Louisville
Propeller-Driven Steamboat · United States · Lost 1857 · Chicago & Southern Lake Michigan
A packet steamer bound for St. Joseph burned to the waterline off Chicago after fire broke out among her tightly stowed cargo.
Shannon Turocy
See Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Louisville was a wooden propeller-driven steamboat built in 1853 and operated on the Ogdensburgh line carrying passengers and mixed freight on the Great Lakes. On September 29, 1857, while en route from Chicago to St. Joseph, Michigan, with a cargo of flour, wood, seed, and livestock, fire broke out between decks and quickly overwhelmed the wooden vessel. A passing schooner took off most of those aboard, though one life was lost. Her machinery remains largely intact on the lake bottom today.
Vessel
- 1853
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- 137.5 ft
- 25.5 ft
- 366
- Steam, single screw
- Western Transportation Company; Mather & Co.'s Ogdensburgh line
Loss
- September 29, 1857
- Fire
- About 10 miles off Chicago, Illinois, Lake Michigan
- Lake Michigan
- Chicago, Illinois → St. Joseph, Michigan
- 400 barrels of flour, 25 cords of wood, 30 bales of broom corn, 190 bags of seed, 5 horses
- Not established
- 1
- Caldwell
The Wreck Today
- 60 ft
- Hull disarticulated with sides lying outside the bottom; engine, boiler, and propeller shaft still present at the site.
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 41.77° N 87.34° W
- Approximate position
- Chicago, Illinois
Rounded from published dive-site coordinates near 41°46.388'N 87°20.284'W.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (65/100)
The precise passenger count and exact circumstances of the one reported death are not established beyond the contemporary newspaper account.
Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago
Contemporary newspaper transcription of the loss.
3DShipwrecks.org survey archive
Wreck site dimensions and condition.
