Site Description
- Steam Barge
- 170ft 76m Lengths
- 35ffw 10m Depths
- Lexington Heights, Lake Huron
- 43 13′ 400″N
82 29′ 050″W
The City of Port Huron, a wooden propeller steambarge, was built in 1867 by J.P. Arnold in Port Huron, Michigan. The vessel measured 169 feet in length, 30.6 feet in width, and 10.2 feet in depth, with a gross tonnage of 411.02. It had a single mast and was powered by a high-pressure non-condensing engine from Phoenix Iron Works.
Initially owned by Johnston, Ward et al. of Port Huron, the City of Port Huron operated as a bulk freight carrier, primarily transporting iron ore. On September 4, 1876, the vessel encountered a disastrous hull failure incident. It was reportedly overloaded, and as a result, it sprung a leak, broached, and foundered approximately 3-4 miles off Lexington, Michigan, in about 36 feet of water in Lake Huron. Fortunately, there were no lives lost in the incident. Some of the crew members clambered up the rigging for safety, while others floated on the cabin roof. All of them were ultimately rescued.
Newspaper reports at the time suggested that the vessel became so low in the water forward due to burning its fuel that the pumps were unable to find water aft. However, the captain denied this claim, stating that the vessel always appeared that way. Following the sinking, most of the City of Port Huron’s gear and machinery were removed by the wrecking tug Monitor in August of 1877.
The vessel’s history prior to its sinking included several incidents such as running aground on Stony Island Reef in the Detroit River in 1870 and stranding on the Clay Banks in the lower Detroit River in 1871. It also collided with the scow St. Charles in the St. Clair River in 1874. The City of Port Huron underwent ownership changes during its lifetime, with owners including A.B. Drake of Dunkirk, New York, and later M.M. Drake and others of Buffalo, New York.
Efforts to salvage the City of Port Huron were deemed futile as the vessel was rapidly deteriorating and broken into pieces. However, divers located the wreck in 2001, submerged in 35 feet of water approximately 15 miles north of Sarnia, Ontario. The vessel’s tragic fate serves as a reminder of the perils faced by ships navigating the Great Lakes and the importance of proper load management and vessel maintenance.
