Belle Wallbridge
Schooner · Lost 1886 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan
Belle Wallbridge broke apart beside Sheboygan’s south pier during an easterly blow in November 1886.
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The Vessel and Her Loss
Belle Wallbridge was a wooden schooner built at Cleveland in 1857 by G.W. Jones. She carried cedar posts and other wood products from upper Lake Michigan ports, mainly to Chicago. On November 22, 1886, she missed Sheboygan’s harbor entrance in an easterly blow while carrying lumber and telegraph poles from Sturgeon Bay to Chicago. Her crew escaped or was rescued by the Sheboygan Life-Saving Crew before she broke apart and became a total loss.
Vessel
- 1857
- US registry no. 2234
- G.W. Jones
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Wood
- 136.6 ft
- 35.7 ft
- 270.66 gross tons
- Sail
- C.N. Charnley brothers, Chicago
Loss
- November 22, 1886
- Grounding
- Alongside the south pier at Sheboygan, Wisconsin
- Lake Michigan
- Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin → Chicago, Illinois
- Lumber and telegraph poles
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
Exact wreck position, present depth and surviving condition are not established in the reviewed sources.
Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks
Construction, builder, dimensions, registry and wood-product service; November 22, 1886 harbor grounding, eight crew, rescue, completed breakup and reported later dredging.
