Joys Maritime Trails Marker
Gallery
img
Joys Maritime Trail Marker
img
Joys Maritime Marker at Sunset Park
 
Details
Attraction
Description
Resting 150 yards off shore from here is the wreckage of the steam barge Joys, a vessel once hailed as a 'greyhound among lumber carriers' for her record-breaking speed. The Joys was constructed in 1884 in the Milwaukee Ship Yard Company. She hauled lumber, iron, and stone through the Sturgeon Bay ship canal between Menominee and the ports of Milwaukee, Chicago, Manistee and Michigan City. The Joys' career ended on December 23, 1898. While at anchor in the canal, a fire broke out about one o'clock a.m. Reports conflict about where the fire started, but Captain John A. Connelly saw flames from his room in the wheelhouse, threw on his clothes, and sounded the alarm. The crew narrowly escaped as the blaze intensified. The mate and steward were forced to jump to the ice wearing nothing but their shirts. Accounts suggest that the crew then worked from shore to pull the bow of the vessel into the wind to keep the fire from spreading forward. But the line burned, and the current carried the Joys toward the canal office and government warehouse. To save these buildings, staff from the Sturgeon Bay Lifesaving Station helped attach a chain and anchor to the forward part of the hull. Eventually, the burning steam barge was towed back to its moorings, where it burned to the waterline and sank. The Joys was unceremoniously abandoned at her current location on the north side of the Pankratz Lumber Company, where she was utilized for some years as a breakwater.
Attraction
Location
Body of Water: Green Bay
Trail Name: Green Bay/Door County
Year Built: 2008
Nearest Address: Sunset Park 747 N 3rd Ave
Nearest City: Sturgeon Bay
County: Door
Zip Code: 54235
Latitude: N 44°50.81000'
Longitude: W -087°23.20000'
Attraction
Features
Open to public?: Yes
Mooring buoy?: No
Mooring buoy in place?: No
Snorkelable?: No
Dive guide?: No
Trails sign?: Yes
National Register?: No
 
Map
 
Nearby
Attractions (10)
Bullhead Point Maritime Trails Marker
Bullhead Point Site
Door County Maritime Museum
Door County's Stone Fleet Maritime Trails Marker
Joys Maritime Trails Marker
Mueller Stern
Potawatomi State Park
Sturgeon Bay Canal
Sturgeon Bay North Pier Lighthouse
Whitefish Dunes State Park
Shipwrecks (66)
A.S. Piper (1880)
Adriatic (1889)
Alfred Mosher (1863)
Alide J. Rodgers (1898)
America (1912)
Anabel II (1928)
Apprentice Boy (1869)
Badger (1899)
Banner (1864)
Bay State (1855)
View 56 more
Shipwrecks (66)
A.S. Piper (1880)
Adriatic (1889)
Alfred Mosher (1863)
Alide J. Rodgers (1898)
America (1912)
Anabel II (1928)
Apprentice Boy (1869)
Badger (1899)
Banner (1864)
Bay State (1855)
Beaver (1892)
Ben Drake (1862)
Charles A. Eddy (1889)
City of Glasgow (1891)
Cleveland (1860)
Dan Hayes (1868)
Dan Sickles (1868)
Duncan City (1883)
E.G. Crosby (1903)
Ebenezer (1867?)
Emerald (1869)
Empire State (1862)
Etta (18??)
Foam (1882)
Fountain City (1857)
Fred Nielson (1868)
George Presley (1889)
German (1868)
Green Bay Sloop
Halsted (1873)
Hunting Boy (1873)
Ida Corning (1881)
Ira Chaffee (1867)
J.S. Williams (1868)
Joseph L. Hurd (1869)
Joys (1884)
Kate Hinchman (1862)
Lakeland (1887)
Leo (1866)
Libbie Nau (1867)
Lucia A. Simpson (1875)
Mariner (1853)
Martha G. (1907)
Mary E. Packard (1875)
Mary Ellen Cook (1875)
Mary L. (1895)
Mary Mills (1872)
Mishicott (1882)
Mueller (1887)
Nellie and Annie (1872)
North Shore (1894)
Oak Leaf (1866)
Petoskey (1888)
Pewaukee (1873)
Pierpont (1852)
Pride (1866)
Robert Holland (1872)
Robert Noble (1883)
S.B. Paige (1863)
Senator (1863)
Swift (1893)
Torch Lake (1860)
Tornado (1872)
Vermillion (1887)
W.C. Tillson (1876)
Whirlwind
View fewer
© 2025 - Wisconsin Sea Grant, Wisconsin Historical Society