AH-WR-0025

Erie L. Hackley

Passenger And Mail Steamer · United States · Lost 1903 · Door County & Lake Michigan

A small wooden mail and passenger steamer that sank near Green Island, Door County, in an October 1903 storm.

Become Captain of Record 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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Erie L. Hackley was a wooden steam-screw vessel built in 1882 that carried passengers and mail among Green Bay communities out of Milwaukee. On October 3, 1903, she departed Egg Harbor and was lost in a storm near Green Island. Her machinery and hull sections remain on the bottom and have been documented by divers. She is remembered as one of Door County's well-known small-steamer losses.

Vessel

Built: 1882
Builder: J.P. Arnold
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: 79 ft
Beam: 17.4 ft
Tonnage: 55
Propulsion: Steam screw
Owners: Levi Joseph Vorous, E.T. Thorpe, and Henry Roberoy

Loss

Date: October 3, 1903
Cause: Storm
Location: Near Green Island, Green Bay, Door County, Wisconsin
Water: Green Bay, Lake Michigan
Voyage: Egg Harbor, Wisconsin
Cargo: Passengers and mail
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Sources reviewed indicate loss of life but a confirmed figure was not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Bow, stern, and machinery sections documented by dive photography
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established