Lost to Time: Wisconsin Archaeologists Unearth a Mysterious Shipwreck They Weren’t Even Searching For
The L.W. Crane was used to transport passengers and freight throughout the region, traveling on several major rivers, like the Mississippi River, Illinois River, and Wisconsin River.
“It was used, like many [vessels] of that era, to move cargo, bulk commodities, up and down the river to the port towns so that the hardware stores and the mercantile stores can be well-stocked—kind of like the Amazon warehouses of today,” said Kevin Cullen, executive director of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.
The Story Of The L.W. Crane And Its Fiery Demise In 1880
Murphy Library Special CollectionsThe L.W. Crane was built in the nearby town of Berlin, Wisconsin in 1865.
It’s unclear how exactly the L.W. Crane ended up at the bottom of the Fox River. According to the Wisconsin Shipwrecks database, the ship caught fire in 1880, leading to its sinking.
However, researchers still don’t know how the fire started. The location in which researchers found the vessel also directly contradicts reports from the time of the sinking about where the L.W. Crane met its end.
Both the L.W. Crane and the Berlin City were constructed in the nearby town of Berlin, Wisconsin. In the late 1800s, ship building was a profitable business in the cities and towns surrounding the Fox River.
“The rivers and lakes were the state’s highways, so they did a lot of shipping by the boats,” said Berlin historian Bobbie Erdmann. “Everything came together to make it a big money maker and a big asset at that time.”
The research team was able to successfully map their findings of the two-and-a-half-mile stretch of the river. Along with the unexpected find of the L.W. Crane, the team discovered the debris of what they suspect to be the Menasha as well as the other wreckage originally identified in 2016.
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