LAKE MICHIGAN, Wis. – The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the listing of the Thomas H. Smith Shipwreck (Steambarge), located in Lake Michigan, on the State Register of Historic Places. State Historic Preservation Officer Tricia Canaday presented a certificate to Tamara Thomsen.
The Thomas H. Smith Shipwreck (Steambarge) was built in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in 1881 at the Rand and Burger shipyard. The steambarge was used for towing boats and freighting, sailing along the west shore of Lake Michigan between Menominee, Michigan, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and Chicago. Thomas H. Smith experienced groundings and collisions, which required repairs, but the ship lines remained the same. On November 11, 1893, Thomas H. Smith was steaming north in a dense fog near Racine with the schooner William Aldrich in tow. The steel steamer Arthur Orr appeared out of the fog and struck Thomas H. Smith on its port side, slicing three feet into the ship. Thomas H. Smith’s crew was taken aboard the Arthur Orr, and the damaged vessel slipped beneath the waves in 90 feet of water within 45 minutes of the accident. The ship was valued at $18,000, but the owners only insured the ship for fire damage. After a lengthy lawsuit, the owners of the Arthur Orr were ordered to pay $10,000 to Leathem & Smith Towing and Wrecking, owners of the Thomas H. Smith.
The Thomas H. Smith Shipwreck lays on the bottom of Lake Michigan in 90 feet of water. The hull is broken and deck has lifted, where the ship’s sides have opened, exposing the interior structural components to allow researchers to examine its construction. The vessel’s engineering spaces including boiler and steeple-compound engine remain upright and intact. The ship’s deck gear including windlass and a large anchor remains on the site. The shipwreck provides historians and archaeologists the opportunity to study wood steambarge construction and adaptations needed for work in the trade of towing and wrecking.
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.
