AH-WR-0497

Empire State

Package Freight Propeller · United States · Lost 1916 · Door County & Lake Michigan

A once-celebrated Buffalo-built passenger propeller, later reduced to a stone barge and left to rest at Bullhead Point near Sturgeon Bay.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Documented Likeness. Drawn from surviving builder's plans or clear photographs of this vessel. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Launched in 1862 at Buffalo, New York, Empire State carried passengers and package freight on the Great Lakes for over three decades and served as a test platform for an early compound steam engine. She was later converted into an unrigged barge for the stone trade, working out of Sturgeon Bay under the Sturgeon Bay Stone Company. She was scrapped in 1916, and her remains lie in shallow water at Bullhead Point alongside two other retired stone barges.

Vessel

Built: 1862
Registry: US registry no. 7229
Builder: Mason and Bidwell
Yard: Buffalo, New York
Material: Wood
Length: 212 ft
Beam: 32.7 ft
Tonnage: 1116.53
Propulsion: Steam, single screw
Owners: Sturgeon Bay Stone Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin (at loss)

Loss

Date: January 1, 1916
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: Bullhead Point, Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal, Door County
Water: Lake Michigan (Green Bay / Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal)
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 0-10
Condition: Iron-sheathed bow and lower hull visible near the surface at Bullhead Point, alongside the wrecks of Oak Leaf and Ida Corning.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established