Shipwrecks Tell Stories

Shipwrecks off Whitefish Dunes State Park preserve stories through personal accounts, newspaper articles, photographs, and artifacts such as pieces of wood. When a ship sinks, it becomes a time capsule that records how people lived and worked at that specific time, because everything on board came from that year or earlier. Underwater archaeologists use these items to tell each ship's story. Pieces that have washed ashore over many years are difficult to connect with a specific vessel because of the large number of shipwrecks in the area, although one shipwreck burned, making its pieces easy to identify by the charring on the wood. During the 1800s and early 1900s, the Great Lakes provided the easiest and cheapest way to move people and cargo about the country.

Sevastopol, Wisconsin · United States