Shipwreck Reappears on Michigan Beach

The spine of a sunken ship buried in sand is visible again. Researches first thought it was the remains of the LC Woodruff, which sank in Lake Michigan in November 1878, but they now think it’s the smaller Contest, which was built in Buffalo, New York, and lost in 1882.

Michigan Shipwreck Researchers Associates’ Valerie van Heest told Fox 17: “Our communities along the lake are here because of our connection to Lake Michigan which, through ships like the Contest, we could connect with everywhere else in the Midwest. So when you look at a semi-truck on the highway today, consider that these schooners were the semi trucks of their days and they were responsible for building our local cities and our economy. It’s why we’re here today.”

Residents first saw the wood spine early December. The last time it was visible was for a few days in 1974. For more information and pictures of the wreckage, visit mlive.com/news/muskegon/2018/12/buried-sunken-ship-spine-reappears-on-lake-michigan.html. 

Photo courtesy of Ben Solis, MLive.