Wooden single masted steam barge J.M. Allmendinger was built in 1883 by Albert Burgoyne in Benton Harbor, Michigan for the Allmendinger and Samuel Hull Company, a wholesaler and retailer of fruit. John Allmendinger was the vessel's namesake. Its primary cargo was lumber, but it was known to carry various other loads such as iron ore, shingles and sundries on Lake Michigan. On August 22, 1887, the ship encountered a bad storm on the way to Muskegon, losing 40,000 feet of lumber; two passengers aboard thought that this would be their last trip alive. The ship was blown to Racine. On November 16, 1891, the ship encountered another gale mid-lake on its way to Milwaukee, becoming encased in ice. The ship lost a whole deck load of 300,000 shingles and was driven south to Chicago. On May 15, 1892, the ship would strike a rock on North Point reef near Milwaukee and fill with water, sinking it in the shallow water. The ship was pumped out and released the next day. After being grounded at Fox Point on November 11, 1893, the J.M. Allmendinger's rescuer, steamer Hilton, would also become stranded; they were both freed before the end of the day. The ship expanded its ports of call for the 1895 season.
J.M. Almendinger loaded lumber at the Pankratz Mill at Sturgeon Bay on November 25, 1895, and set out for Milwaukee that afternoon. As the ship approached Milwaukee, a snowstorm engulfed the ship, combined with a strong gale. The ship was nigh-impossible to control and ran up on the rocky shoal on Fox Point around 3 AM on November 26. The lifesaving crew would not arrive for hours, leading to the crew of the Allmendinger becoming coated in ice; they had to be hosed down with hot water before they were able to move.

After days of working to free the ship, the vessel was abandoned on December 2; its cargo was removed and the hull was declared a total loss. The ship would slowly be torn apart by weather and waves. The ship was visited on the July of 1934 when Max Nohl, Jack Browne, and Verne Netzow used homemade diving gear to recover portions of the wreckage.
The steam barge J.M. Almendinger is located 2.5 miles south of Concordia University in the town of Mequon, about 1,035 feet from shore, in 12 feet of water. The vessel's location was reported to Wisconsin Historical Society by Bob Jaeck, and it was visited for an official archaeological survey. The vessel is very broken up, but the keelson, lower frames, rudder, and boiler remain.

A dive guide for this vessel is available for purchase.