Niagara, a 245-foot sidewheel palace steamer launched in 1845, served the busy Great Lakes passenger and cargo trade before its catastrophic loss on Lake Michigan on September 23, 1856. After leaving Sheboygan for Port Washington with 170 passengers and heavy freight, fire broke out near the engine room about 6:00 pm. The vessel, several miles offshore, was quickly engulfed as rescue efforts and lifeboat launches failed. Nearby ships saved most aboard, but more than 60 people died, including former congressman John B. Macy, in one of Wisconsin’s deadliest transportation disasters. The fire’s cause was never settled, and the wreck now rests off Belgium, Wisconsin, as an underwater archaeological site.