Service History
The wooden schooner
Belle Walbrige spent her years traveling from ports of Upper Lake Michigan such as Sturgeon Bay, Sheboygan and Manitowoc. She would be delivering cedar posts and other wood products to mainly Chicago.
She was involved in a few collisions with other vessels, run aground a few times, sprung leaks and as a result had to undergo major repairs at least three times.
Final Voyage
The schooner
Belle Wallbridge, with a crew of eight men, was bound from Sturgeon Bay to Chicago loaded with lumber and telegraph poles on the 22nd of November 1886. During a strong easterly blow, she missed the entrance to the harbor at Sheboygan, Wisconsin approximately one half mile from the Sheboygan Life-saving Station. The
Belle Wallbridge went ashore alongside of the south pier. Even though the waves were breaking completely over the
Belle Wallbridge the Sheboygan Life-Saving Crew rescued those members of the crew that did not manage to leap to the breakwater. The Life-Saving Crew also saved the canvas, running gear, anchors and chain before the vessel went to pieces and became a total loss.
Today
One report states she was removed by a government dredge in 1894.