GARDNER, Wis. – The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the listing of the Claflin Point Site in the Town of Gardner (Door County) on the State Register of Historic Places. The shipwreck is submerged in the waters of Green Bay. Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Amy Wyatt and Maritime Archaeologist Tamara Thomsen presented a certificate to Brendon Baillod and Bob Jaeck.
The site was originally listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. Through additional scholarship and information gathered from resources unavailable at the time of nomination, the shipwreck described in the original documentation was identified as the City of Kalamazoo. The nomination was updated through Additional Documentation to account for the ship and its history.
The City of Kalamazoo was launched October 22, 1892. The steamer was built by master shipbuilder Captain John B. Martelle at his unimproved yard in South Haven, Michigan. The City of Kalamazoo was used as a passenger-packet vessel between South Haven and Chicago. Beginning in 1893, it provided service for the World’s Columbian Exposition. After the event, it continued this route, carrying passengers and freight. On the night of November 11, 1911, the vessel was tied up in winter quarters at its dock on Manistee Lake when it mysteriously caught fire, burned to the waterline and sank. It was refloated in 1912 and rebuilt as a barge in 1914 for use in the Sturgeon Bay stone trade. Although it burned and was rebuilt, the steamer retained the same hull lines throughout its service career. It sank in 1922 due to extensive leaks.
State and federal laws protect this shipwreck. Divers may not remove artifacts or structure when visiting this site. Removing, defacing, displacing, or destroying artifacts or sites is a crime. More information on Wisconsin’s historic shipwrecks may be found by visiting Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Shipwrecks website: https://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Home#anchor3
To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit: www.wisconsinhistory.org.
About the Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.
