AH-WR-1763

Atlanta

Passenger And Freight Steamer · United States · Lost 1906 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

A Goodrich passenger steamer burned near Cedar Grove in 1906; its lower hull survives in shallow Lake Michigan water.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Atlanta was built at Cleveland in 1891 for Goodrich passenger and package-freight service on Lake Michigan. Her afterbody was widened and boilers replaced in 1895, and she later worked Wisconsin winter routes as well as cross-lake runs. Fire broke out on March 18, 1906, while she carried passengers and manufactured goods from Sheboygan to Milwaukee. Tessler and Georgia assisted the evacuation, but deckhand Michael Hickey died. Tessler towed the abandoned vessel ashore, where she burned to the waterline; substantial lower-hull remains were surveyed in 2016.

Vessel

Built: 1891
Registry: US registry no. 106823
Builder: Cleveland Dry Dock Company
Yard: Cleveland, Ohio
Material: Wood
Length: 200.1 ft
Beam: 32.2 ft
Tonnage: 1,129 gross tons
Propulsion: Steam screw
Owners: Goodrich Transportation Company (also Goodrich Transit Company in source details)

Loss

Date: March 18, 1906
Cause: Fire
Location: Near Amsterdam Park, Cedar Grove, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Sheboygan, Wisconsin → Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Cargo: Porcelain, enamelware, metalware, leather and wooden furniture
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 1
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 17 ft
Condition: Basic lower-hull outline survives, locally rising ten feet above sand, with machinery remnants, bracing and cargo artifacts. Shifting sand varies exposure.
Orientation: Heading 40 degrees
Discovered: Not established
Protection: National Register of Historic Places listed (institutional entry)

Position

Coordinates: 43.57° N 87.78° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Cedar Grove, Wisconsin
Region: Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan

Position converted from degrees and decimal minutes in Wisconsin Shipwrecks institutional inventory; archaeological documentation accompanies the entry, but position accuracy is not stated.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)

Position is the published institutional inventory location; survey accuracy and unrecorded particulars are not asserted.

Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks
Builder, build year, registry, dimensions, wood construction, engines, Goodrich service and 1895 changes; March 18 fire distinct from March 21 enrollment declaration; 65 passengers, Hickey death, rescue, completed burn; 1920 and wartime salvage, 2016 survey, depth, position and condition.