AH-WR-0173

Frontenac

Sidewheel Steamboat · United States · Lost 1907 · The Finger Lakes

The largest steamboat ever to run Cayuga Lake burned mid-lake in 1907; the deadliest disaster in the lake's steamboat history.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Frontenac was built at Ithaca as the largest steamboat ever to run on Cayuga Lake, a 135-foot sidewheeler able to carry 350 passengers. On July 27, 1907, during an afternoon run from Ithaca with about fifty passengers and twelve crew, fire broke out near the engine spaces and spread in a strong wind. Captain Melvin Brown beached the burning vessel near Union Springs; the historical marker cites eight deaths, the deadliest disaster in the lake's steamboat history. The burned hulk was not preserved as an intact site.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Captain T. D. Wilcox
Yard: Ithaca, New York
Material: Wood
Length: 135 ft
Beam: 22 ft
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam, sidewheels
Owners: Cayuga Lake Transportation Company

Loss

Date: July 27, 1907
Cause: Fire
Location: Off Union Springs, Cayuga Lake
Water: Cayuga Lake
Voyage: Ithaca, New York → Cayuga, New York
Cargo: Passengers
Aboard: 62
Lives lost: 8
Master: Melvin P. Brown

The Wreck Today

Depth: Shallow near shore
Condition: Burned to the waterline and beached; not preserved as an intact site.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 42.84° N 76.69° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Union Springs, New York
Region: The Finger Lakes

General area only: coordinate of Union Springs, New York from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel, not a surveyed wreck position.