A diver checks out the wreck of the Frank D. Barker, which sits flattened in 24 feet of water near Newport State Park in Door County. The two-masted ship sank in 1887 after running off course while headed to Escanaba, Michigan, for a load of iron ore.
A diver checks out the wreck of the Frank D. Barker, which sits flattened in 24 feet of water near Newport State Park in Door County. The two-masted ship sank in 1887 after running off course while headed to Escanaba, Michigan, for a load of iron ore.
Bad weather caused the Frank D. Barker to run off course before it became stranded on nearby Spider Island on the east side of the Door County peninsula in 1887. A tugboat was dispatched the following day but was unsuccessful in freeing the ship.
The Frank D. Barker was constructed of wood and was built by Simon G. Johnson in Clayton, New York, specially designed for transporting grain from ports in Milwaukee and Chicago to Lake Ontario. On its return trip west, it brought coal from ports on Lake Erie that would be used to fuel factories and heat homes of the Midwest. With a canaller hull type, it was specially designed in shape and size to maximize cargo while still fitting the locks of the second generation of the Welland Canal, a route bypassing Niagara Falls.
The Frank D. Barker was constructed of wood and was built by Simon G. Johnson in Clayton, New York, specially designed for transporting grain from ports in Milwaukee and Chicago to Lake Ontario. On its return trip west, it brought coal from ports on Lake Erie that would be used to fuel factories and heat homes of the Midwest. With a canaller hull type, it was specially designed in shape and size to maximize cargo while still fitting the locks of the second generation of the Welland Canal, a route bypassing Niagara Falls.
A diver checks out the wreck of the Frank D. Barker, which sits flattened in 24 feet of water near Newport State Park in Door County. The two-masted ship sank in 1887 after running off course while headed to Escanaba, Michigan, for a load of iron ore.
A diver checks out the wreck of the Frank D. Barker, which sits flattened in 24 feet of water near Newport State Park in Door County. The two-masted ship sank in 1887 after running off course while headed to Escanaba, Michigan, for a load of iron ore.
Bad weather caused the Frank D. Barker to run off course before it became stranded on nearby Spider Island on the east side of the Door County peninsula in 1887. A tugboat was dispatched the following day but was unsuccessful in freeing the ship.