AH-WR-1504

Alpena

Sidewheel Passenger Steamer · United States · Lost 1880 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

A passenger sidewheeler lost with everyone aboard in the Big Blow of 1880 and never found.

Captain of Record

Kip Sundquist

AHR-1960

See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Alpena was a wooden sidewheel passenger steamer built in 1866. On 15 October 1880 she left Grand Haven for Chicago and was caught by a sudden severe storm later called the Big Blow. She was lost with everyone aboard. Wreckage drifted ashore near Holland, but the ship has never been found.

Vessel

Built: 1866
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam, side paddle wheels
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: October 16, 1880
Cause: Storm
Location: Lake Michigan, between Grand Haven and Chicago
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Everyone aboard was lost; estimates range from about 60 to 100 people.
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 42.85° N 86.60° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Holland, Michigan
Region: Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

Pin marks the named place of loss, not a surveyed wreck position.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (65/100)

No wreck has been found; the number aboard is not established.

Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society
Vessel history, loss and search history.
Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University
Vessel particulars and career.