The wooden two masted scow-schooner Lady Ellen was built at Ahnapee, Wisconsin (near Algoma) by the shipwright William Irving Henry (at the time, he was the area's most noteworthy shipwright) in 1875. The official registry number was 140208. She had one deck, a plain head and a square stern. The Lady Ellen started out in the salvaging business, from 1875 thru 1880. In late 1881 the vessel was lengthened and rebuilt at Algoma. The new dimensions were: 61.1 feet long, 18.1 feet beam, 5.45 feet depth of hold and 44.25 gross tons.
In early September 1897, Captain William Henry took command of Samuel Perry’s newly-overhauled schooner Industry. The Industry was previously owned by his former partner, Orrin Vose, and was a newer and sleeker vessel than the Lady Ellen. The Lady Ellen was unceremoniously towed up the Ahnapee River and abandoned in a slip between the Second and Fourth Street bridges. Although the Lady Ellen is listed as being in commission through the 1899 season, she did not move from her slip in the Ahnapee River after she was tied there on 9 September 1897
The Lady Ellen site lies in a small cove on the north side of the Ahnapee River, west of the 2nd Street Bridge and 0.46 miles from the entrance to the Ahnapee River at Lake Michigan. Water depth on the site ranges from a few inches of water on the site’s western edge to approximately 4.0 feet of water on the site’s eastern edge. The site may be exposed or submerged depending on water levels, which are affected by low or high pressure systems across the Great Lakes, winds, flood or drought conditions. During periods of low water, especially during winter months, the site may be exposed and dry for periods of several weeks or more. At mean water levels, the site is mostly submerged with the exception of several of the bottom planks on the starboard side turn of the bilge.