World’s Fair steamer that sank in Green Bay waters now on state register

GREEN BAY – On Aug. 28, the Wisconsin Historical Society announced the listing of a shipwreck submerged in the waters of Green Bay on the State Register of Historic Places.

The Claflin Point Site was originally listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

“Through additional scholarship and information gathered from resources unavailable at the time of nomination, the shipwreck described in the original documentation was identified as the City of Kalamazoo. The nomination was updated through additional documentation to account for the ship and its history,” a Wisconsin Historical Society release stated.

The City of Kalamazoo was launched on Oct. 22, 1892.

“The steamer was built by master shipbuilder Captain John B. Martelle at his unimproved yard in South Haven, Michigan. The City of Kalamazoo was used as a passenger-packet vessel between South Haven and Chicago,” the release explained.

“Beginning in 1893, it provided service for the World’s Columbian Exposition. After the event, it continued this route, carrying passengers and freight.

“On the night of Nov. 11, 1911, the vessel was tied up in winter quarters at its dock on Manistee Lake when it mysteriously caught fire, burned to the waterline and sank. It was refloated in 1912 and rebuilt as a barge in 1914 for use in the Sturgeon Bay stone trade. Although it burned and was rebuilt, the steamer retained the same hull lines throughout its service career.”

In 1922, the ship sank while seeking shelter at Little Sturgeon.

“The lighter Kalamazoo owned by the Greiling Co., Green Bay, was sunk in Little Sturgeon Bay near the old Gardner dock on Monday while being towed into the harbor by the tug Satisfaction. The Kalamazoo was loaded with material used in building docks at Kenosha and was being towed to Green Bay when a sudden storm came up, and an effort was made to get behind the old dock shelter when suddenly the craft ran onto the rocks…,” a Sept. 1, 1922, Door County Advocate article stated.

Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Amy Wyatt and Maritime Archaeologist Tamara Thomsen presented a certificate to historians/shipwreck hunters, Brendon Baillod and Bob Jaeck, on behalf of the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association.