- Bulk Propeller
- 60ft
- 240ft length
- Amherst Island Graveyard, Lake Ontario
The NIPIGON, also known as MAPLEHILL or MAPLEGRANGE, was built in 1883 at St. Clair, Michigan. Constructed as a steambarge with a round stern and diagonal steel straps on frames, it had a wooden hull and a single deck. The master carpenter responsible for its construction was Simon Langel. The original owner was David Whitney Jr. from Detroit, Michigan, and the vessel was part of the Whitney Transportation Company.
Powered by a for-and-aft compound screw engine with two cylinders, the NIPIGON had a propulsion system consisting of one propeller. The engine, manufactured by Dry Dock Engine Works in Detroit in 1883, had dimensions of 27 + 44 x 40″ and produced 500 horsepower at 82 revolutions per minute. The vessel had three masts and a capacity of 1,150 gross tons or 765,000 feet of lumber.
Throughout its history, the NIPIGON experienced various incidents and ownership changes. It regularly towed the barge MELBOURNE and had notable events such as striking Ripley’s Rock near Marquette, Michigan, in 1887 and colliding with and sinking the steamer VIENNA off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior, in 1892. The vessel underwent modifications and repairs, including the installation of a new steam boiler in 1890 and the addition of two masts in 1896. It also changed ownership multiple times, being owned by companies such as Whitney Transportation Co., Marine Transportation Co., and Erie & Montreal Transportation Co.
In 1919, the NIPIGON was renamed MAPLEHILL and obtained official Canadian registration number 141588. Under the ownership of Montreal Transportation Co., it had dimensions of 194.2 x 33.9 x 13.7 feet and a gross tonnage of 925 tons. The vessel was later renamed MAPLEGRANGE in 1920.
The NIPIGON, or MAPLEGRANGE, was eventually laid up and abandoned in 1925. Its final fate came in 1929 when it was dismantled and scuttled in Lake Ontario.
Various sources confirm the vessel’s different names and registrations. In the “List of Vessels on Registry Books of the Dominion of Canada on the 31st Day of December, 1920,” it is listed as the propeller MAPLEGRANGE with official Canadian number 141588. It was owned by Canada Steamship Lines and had Montreal, Quebec, as its home port. The Herman Runge List also mentions the vessel under the names NIPIGON, MAPLEHILL, and MAPLEGRANGE. The U.S. Merchant Vessel List of 1891 provides information on the NIPIGON, including its gross and net tonnage and dimensions. Additionally, the Preliminary List of Canadian Merchant Steamships Inland & Coastal records the vessel’s transformation from MAPLEHILL to MAPLEGRANGE and its eventual abandonment in 1925.
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