AH-WR-0091

Christina Nilsson

Schooner · United States · Lost 1884 · Door County & Lake Michigan

A Door County-built schooner hauling pig iron was driven onto an outer reef near Baileys Harbor in a sudden fall snowstorm.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Christina Nilsson was a three-masted schooner built in 1871 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and named for a celebrated Swedish opera singer. She spent over a decade hauling grain, iron ore, and other bulk cargo on the Great Lakes. On October 24, 1884, while carrying pig iron from Escanaba to Chicago, she was caught in a sudden blinding snowstorm off Door County and grounded on an outer reef near Baileys Harbor. All eight crew members escaped safely, and the wreck was long mistaken for a neighboring schooner until researchers corrected the identification.

Vessel

Built: 1871
Registry: US registry no. 125293
Builder: Hanson & Scove
Yard: Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Material: Wood
Length: 139.4 ft
Beam: 26 ft
Tonnage: 311.36
Propulsion: Sail, three masts
Owners: Charles M. Lindgren of Chicago

Loss

Date: October 24, 1884
Cause: Storm
Location: Outer reef near Baileys Harbor, Door County, Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Escanaba, Michigan → Chicago, Illinois
Cargo: 575 tons of pig iron
Aboard: 8
Lives lost: 0
Master: N. A. Hammer

The Wreck Today

Depth: 15 ft
Condition: Broken up on the reef; scattered remains in shallow water.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Sites of Wisconsin listing.