The ''Meridian'' was a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

that sank in

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that ...

off

Sister Bay Sister Bay is a village in Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 876 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Demographics ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, south of the Sister Islands. In 1996, the shipwreck site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

History

The ''Meridian'' was built in

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

in 1848. In 1849, it was reported by the

Milwaukee Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currentl ...

that the ship's second mate, James Bain, was killed aboard the vessel in an ensuing fight after he had attacked the captain and thrown the first mate overboard. In October 1873, the ''Meridian'' left

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

and was bound for

Oconto, Wisconsin Oconto is a city in Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,609 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is located partially within the town of Oconto. History Oconto is h ...

. She was carrying no cargo at the time and it is presumed that it was intended for her to pick up lumber in Oconto. Along the way, the ship hit a violent storm that drove her off course. The vessel suffered extensive damage and eventually sank. Multiple attempts were made to recover the ''Meridian'', but were unsuccessful. In 1991, the Maritime Preservation and Archaeology Program of the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...

began surveying the site. The remnants of the ''Meridian'' are owned by the State of Wisconsin and the site is managed by the Wisconsin Historical Society and the

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set policy ...

References

{{Authority control Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Shipwrecks of the Wisconsin coast 1848 ships Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan Maritime incidents in October 1873 National Register of Historic Places in Door County, Wisconsin