Sardis Burchard
Schooner-Barge · United States · Lost 1882 · Saginaw Bay & the Michigan Thumb
An 1847 schooner-barge that broke its tow line and foundered on a Saginaw Bay shoal in an 1882 storm.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in 1847 at Huron, Ohio, Sardis Burchard spent thirty-five years in the Great Lakes trade, surviving earlier strandings and rebuilds. On October 31, 1882, while under tow of the steamer Don M. Dickinson with a cargo of stone, she broke loose and drifted onto Gravelly Shoal near Point Lookout in Saginaw Bay. She foundered there and was abandoned after salvage attempts failed.
Vessel
- 1847
- US official number 23104
- Not established
- Huron, Ohio
- Wood
- 105 ft
- 24 ft
- 198
- Sail, two masts (towed as barge at loss)
- C.H. Weeks, Saginaw, Michigan (at loss)
Loss
- October 31, 1882
- Storm
- Gravelly Shoal, off Point Lookout, Saginaw Bay
- Lake Huron
- Not established
- 35 cords of stone
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 7 ft
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 44.02° N 83.54° W
- General area only
- Point Lookout, Saginaw Bay, Michigan
General area only: coordinate of Gravelly Shoal, marked by the Gravelly Shoal Light at 44°01'06"N 83°32'14"W, taken from the vessel database record's own cited navigational fix for this named shoal, not a surveyed wreck position.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (60/100)
Loss of life, present depth, and wreck condition are not established in the sources reviewed.
Great Lakes Ships (C. Patrick Labadie Collection)
Build details, ownership chronology, and final loss circumstances.
named loss location (Gravelly Shoal) and its charted light coordinate
