The Alma was a small two masted scow schooner with a plain stem and square stern. It was built by H.S. Downer at Milwaukee in 1887. The vessel was sold five times during its five years of operation. The Alma discussed here is one of many ships on the Great Lakes with the same name during the nineteenth century.
On May 19, 1892, the Milwaukee Sentinel reported on the wreck of the Alma: "The third boat to be wrecked this season in sight of the Milwaukee Harbor was the scow Alma which has been used the past season to carry gravel from the pits north of the city to the harbor. She was loaded Tuesday and that night started for the city. There was a stiff southeast breeze blowing and all night long the schooner tacked about the bay trying to make the harbor. In the meantime her hold filled with water, and about 6 o'clock yesterday morning she capsized, dumping her deck load into the lake. The crew of three men scrambled onto the bottom of the boat and despite the terrible sea which was rolling clung to the hull until taken off by the fishing schooner Prince, which happened to be passing. Had they not been discovered at that time the men would undoubtedly have been drowned as they could not have hung to the side of the upturned scow for any great length of time. The Alma was the property of the roofing firm of A. Wronsted & Co., and when built cost $1,200. No tug was sent out to the boat yesterday, but marine men were of the opinion that the hull would not be worth the expense that would be entailed in its recovery."

The final document of enrollment was surrendered shortly afterward, listing the vessel as lost.
The Alma went high and hard up on the rocks north of present-day Bradford Beach in Milwaukee. It's likely that the ship broke apart there, as it wouldn't have been a serious navigation hazard to other ships. The wreck of the Alma may have been sighted by Kimm Stabelfeldt of Milwaukee, however its exact location and condition have not yet been confirmed by archaeological investigation.