Local Door County boater Matt Olson discovered the shipwreck remains of the long-lost 1867 Frank D. Barker in 24 feet of water near Rowleys Bay in Lake Michigan. The 137-foot canaller vessel, designed for grain transport, sank in 1887 amid bad weather while bound for Escanaba, Michigan. The captain and crew struggled to correct course, becoming stranded on nearby Spider Island. Multiple salvage missions failed, resulting in a total loss of the vessel valued around $8,000 at the time — over $250,000 today. Historical newspaper accounts of the shipwreck placed it closer to Spider Island, which likely contributed to it not being discovered for so long.
“Whenever we receive this type of call, it’s hard to know exactly what we will find. We were excited to identify the wreck as the Frank D. Barker, whose exact location has been lost for over a century,” said Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society maritime archaeologist. “We are grateful for Matt Olson’s keen sense of observation and quick reporting of the discovery so we can document this chapter of Wisconsin’s storied maritime history.”
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