The wreck was located in shallow waters, at a depth of about 20 feet, according to Olson. From what he could tell, the bottom of the hull was largely intact, but the sides of the ship had split open and flattened out like a fillet — likely due to 138 years of being battered by wind, waves and ice, he said.
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist at the historical society’s State Historic Preservation Office, spent several weeks combing through a database of newspaper clippings, archival insurance documents and port enrollments, which are similar to motor vehicle registrations.
Thomsen and her colleagues also conducted diving missions to search for any identifying characteristics.
Given the vessel’s appearance and the shipwreck’s general location, the historical society was able to confirm that Olson had found the remains of the long-lost Frank D. Barker.
“What’s really cool about this wreck is that the whole thing is there,” Thomsen said. “It’s spread out on the bottom, almost like pieces of a puzzle that you could assemble in your mind and put back together.”
The 137-foot Frank D. Barker was constructed out of wood in 1867 by a veteran shipbuilder named Simon G. Johnson from Clayton, New York. It was a canaller, which is a type of vessel uniquely designed to operate on the Great Lakes, Thomsen said. Canallers were built to sail through the Welland Canal, a series of locks and both natural and modified waterways that enabled ships to bypass Niagara Falls.
The Frank D. Barker was used to transport grain from ports in Milwaukee and Chicago to Lake Ontario. Typically on its trips west, the ship hauled coal from ports on Lake Erie to the Midwest to fuel factories and heat homes.
In 1887, the Frank D. Barker was traveling from Manistee, Michigan, to Escanaba, Michigan, to pick up a load of iron ore. The ship’s captain and crew ran into bad weather and foggy conditions, which caused it to run off course.
The ship eventually ran aground and became stranded on a limestone outcropping on Spider Island. Five separate attempts to salvage the ship — one in October 1887 and others in June, August, September and October of 1888 — ultimately failed.
“They finally decided that they couldn’t get it out of this pocket where it’s resting, and they ultimately abandoned the ship,” Thomsen said.
The loss of the vessel was estimated to be worth around $8,000 at the time, which works out to more than $250,000 in today’s dollars, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Finding the Frank D. Barker after 138 years marks an exciting moment for Door County, but it was also a deeply personal one for Olson.
After reporting the find to the State Historic Preservation Office, Olson decided to take a closer look.
“To think that my 6-year-old son had his first time ever snorkeling on a shipwreck,” he said, “and being one of the first people to see this wreck after more than 130 years — that’s pretty exciting.”
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