The wooden tug Golden was built at the Wolf & Davidson shipyard (located at the foot of Washington Street) in 1892. The vessel was designed for harbor work. The first enrollment was issued at Milwaukee on April 11, 1892. In 1900 the Golden was sold to C.H. Starke of Milwaukee. In 1905, C.H. Starke became the C.H. Starke Dredge Co. and kept the tug Golden in this operation. In 1915 the Golden was purchased by the Great Lakes Dredge Company of Chicago who was the final owner.
The Golden was abandoned for old age in the summer of 1918 (one source says 1922). The vessel was dismantled and stripped of anything useful, towed to the north breakwall and sunk near Milwaukee's garbage plant. The tug Sioux was also abandoned nearby.