AH-WR-1771

Grace Patterson

Steam-Screw Barge · United States · Lost 1882 · Door County & Lake Michigan

Grace Patterson leaked and stranded north of Two Rivers in 1882; all five crew were rescued, but refloating failed.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Grace Patterson was built at Grand Haven, Michigan, in 1880 as a wooden steam-screw barge/tug. She carried stone to eastern Lake Michigan ports. On March 15, 1882, carrying lumber and lath from Manistee to Milwaukee, she leaked offshore and stranded four miles north of Two Rivers. Station No. 17 rescued her five-man crew from the rigging, but attempts to pump out and refloat the vessel failed. Her enrollment was surrendered in 1885 as wrecked; institutional photographs and a site plan document surviving hull components.

Vessel

Built: 1880
Registry: US registry no. 85634
Builder: John Callister Shipyard
Yard: Grand Haven, Michigan
Material: Wood
Length: 86 ft
Beam: 17.4 ft
Tonnage: 110.93 gross tons
Propulsion: Steam screw
Owners: Built for Mr. Patterson

Loss

Date: March 15, 1882
Cause: Grounding
Location: Four miles north of Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Water: Lake Michigan
Voyage: Manistee, Michigan → Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Cargo: Lumber and lath
Aboard: 5
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Institutional images and site plan document bow structure, deck stanchions, frames, hull planking and a donkey boiler.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 44.19° N 87.51° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Region: Door County & Lake Michigan

Institutional inventory position N 44°11.259′, W 087°30.863′ converted faithfully; not independently verified as an exact survey fix.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Well documented (91/100)

Present depth and overall intactness are not established. Institutional inventory coordinates are not independently verified; the reconstructed full vessel is an artistic impression.

Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Sea Grant — Wisconsin Shipwrecks
1880 builder, registry, dimensions, wood steam-screw barge/tug service; March 15, 1882 leak and stranding, five rescued, failed refloating, 1885 enrollment surrender as wrecked. Historic drawing, site plan, surviving bow/planking/boiler, published inventory coordinates; National Register eligible only.