Ashtabula

3D ModelNoAI

The small 90 ft schooner ASHTABULA was built in Ashtabula, Ohio sometime between 1851 and 1854, depending on your historical reference. For much of its history it transported general cargo on Lake Michigan to and from Chicago, Milwaukee, and finally Escanaba. On November 11, 1883, it was carrying barrels mostly of salt, oil, coal tar, and other miscellaneous cargo from Chicago to Escanaba in a storm. The ship sprang a leak and was seeking shelter in Milwaukee when the water level rose above what the pumps could handle and the ship capsized. The crew of four made it to the yawl boat and were rescued in a heroic effort by the crew of the tug STARKE BROS from Milwaukee. Today it is a seldom dived historic wreck site off Milwaukee’s North Point. The model was created from 1,073 30-megapixel images shot by Andrew Goodman in the 2025 season. The project was part of a collaboration between WHS and GLSPS made possible by gift funding from the “Racine Lighthouse and Maritime Preservation Society.”