Indiana’s second official shipwreck nature preserve will be dedicated next week near Indiana Dunes National Park’s Mount Baldy site near Michigan City.
The SS Muskegon, a sand barge, was destroyed by fire while docked in Michigan City, according to an Oct. 11, 1910, story in the Goshen Democrat. No lives were lost.
Damage to the ship was estimated at $50,000, or more than $1.6 million in today’s dollars.
The Muskegon, whose wreck is offshore at Mount Baldy, sits in 30 to 35 feet of water about a quarter mile offshore.
The 211-foot-long ship began its service in 1872 as a passenger steamer ship called the Peerless, according to an Indiana Department of Natural Resources website. It then became a transport for commercial goods.
The Peerless carried passengers between Chicago and Duluth, Minnesota. In 1908, it was renamed the Muskegon and became a bulk freighter. Later, it was converted into a sand barge.
The ship burned at midnight on Oct. 6, 1910, and was towed out into Lake Michigan, where it was abandoned.
Charles Beeker and colleagues from Indiana University’s Center for Underwater Science, along with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and National Park Service staff, plan to install a mooring buoy, collect a bronze commemorative plaque and gather high-quality underwater photos and footage.
“The Muskegon is Indiana’s first shipwreck listed on the National Register of Historic Places,” Beeker said in a National Park Service news release. “This dedication as an Indiana Shipwreck Nature Preserve will facilitate site enhancements and increased public access to one of our most significant shipwrecks.”
Establishing the site as an official DNR nature preserve helps promote the importance of shipwrecks as scientific, cultural and recreational resources.
The DNR lists many shipwrecks in Lake Michigan.
“Indiana is home to more than 300 nature preserves that protect our state’s most unique natural places, which includes two shipwrecks off our state’s coast,” DNR Director Dan Bortner said in the same release. “As a state nature preserve, the Muskegon shipwreck site will be protected for generations to come.”
The first Indiana Shipwreck Nature Preserve is the J.D. Marshall near Indiana Dunes State Park.
The J.D. Marshall was built in 1981 in South Haven, Michigan. It was 164.5 feet long and transported commercial and industrial goods such as lumber. Later, it was converted to a sand barge.
It capsized in a storm on June 11, 1911. Four lives were lost.
After capsizing, the J.D. Marshall floated close to shore for several days before sinking. The company that owned the Muskegon used the insurance money from that shipwreck to buy the J.D. Marshall.
The public is invited to the Old Lighthouse Museum in Michigan City from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday to visit the museum, see a special model of the Muskegon and meet the artist. The dedication ceremony will begin at 3:30 p.m.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
