Search below for stories about ships, lighthouses, sailors and anything else about life on Lake Michigan. The database contains references to articles from the Ahnapee (Algoma) Record (June 12, 1873 to Jan. 7, 1927), the Door County Advocate (Nov. 8, 1861 to Dec. 22, 1949), and the Manitowoc Pilot (June 14, 1859 to Dec. 28, 1899). The results will direct you to the date and page in these newspapers where the article can be found.
Microfilm copies of the Ahnapee (Algoma) Record are available at the Wisconsin Historical Society Library in Madison, Algoma Public Library in Algoma. Microfilm copies of the Door County Advocate are available at the Wisconsin Historical Society Library in Madison, the Door County Public Library in Sturgeon Bay, and the Brown County Library in Green Bay. Microfilm of the Manitowoc Pilot are available at the Manitowoc County Historical Society, the Manitowoc Public Library, and the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison.
Check with your local library about obtaining the microfilm via interlibrary loan.
| Newspaper | Object | Name | Date | Page | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1893-06-01 | 3 | Will be ready to sail within a few days. Her boiler and machinery in shape and painting on her upper works are nearing completion. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1893-07-13 | 3 | Thomas Swaty, engineer on the Mary Mills, has found it necessary to lay off awhile due to a severe attack of rheumatism. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1893-06-08 | 3 | Information on her. She is fitted out and is practically ready for business. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1891-11-26 | 3 | Captain James Tufts intends to bring his steambarge, Mary Mills, here to winter. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steam barge | Mary Mills | 1891-11-12 | 3 | The steam barge has been released from the rocks on Green Island reef. She is owned by Capt. Jas. Tuffts. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1891-12-31 | 3 | The steambarge Mary Mills tarried in the harbor here a few hours last Tuesday. She was bound south with a cargo of wood. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1892-12-08 | 3 | Went out and lightened the then stranded steamer Ann Arbor No.1, by taking the apples and part of the coal from that steamer. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1892-12-15 | 3 | Has gone into winter quarters at this port. She will be overhauled, raised and otherwise improved. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1893-02-02 | 3 | There are seven men at work on the craft. She will be so greatly improved in outward appearance that the "old salts" will not recognize her. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Barge | Mary Mills | 1893-03-30 | 3 | Tom Swaty engaged as one of the engineers on the barge. James Oakley is also an engineer. |
This database is a cooperative effort of the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association (WUAA), the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS), and the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute. The project is spearheaded by WUAA member Russel Leitz, who helped develop a framework for the database and painstakingly combed through 54 years of the Ahnapee (Algoma) Record, 87 years of the Door County Advocate and 40 years of the Manitowoc Pilot for maritime news. The more than 50,000 references are the fruit of his labor alone.