Sloop Wreck Now a National Historic Site
Not much is known about Wisconsin’s Big Bay Sloop Shipwreck -
the remains of a small, unidentified sailing vessel resting in 25 feet
of water in Madeline Island’s Big Bay on Lake Superior. But it is a
rare find, and early in 2009 it was added to the National Register of
Historic Places.
Big Bay Sloop, as it is called, is about 300 feet east of Big
Bay State Park and is the only one of its kind found so far in
Wisconsin waters. It’s a significant archaeological resource, says the
Wisconsin Historical Society, and is important for understanding the
construction and use of historic small craft on the Great Lakes. The
vessel’s type and name have never been positively identified. That
uncertainty “is due to an almost complete absence of either historical
or contemporary documentation of small craft on the Great Lakes,”
according to the historical society.
The vessel’s construction and the history of the development
in the Apostle Islands indicate the sloop is from the period 1880 to
1920.
History Notes
 April 15, 1876: The first telegraph line in northern Wisconsin is completed near Ashland. Source: WisconsinHistory.org
May
3, 1959: Ramon de Larrinaga is the first deep-draft ocean ship to enter
Duluth harbor, after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Source: Duluth Seaway Port Authority
May 5, 1904: Crisp Point Lighthouse in Michigan is activated. Source: Crisp Point Historical Society
May
16, 1885: Canadian Pacific Railway completed the Lake Superior segment
to Fort William. Source: Canadian Pacific Railway; MSN Encarta Online
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