Site Description
- Schooner
May Flower, 1891 #
The May Flower was a Great Lakes wooden scow schooner and the first shipwreck of this type documented in Minnesota’s portion of Lake Superior. Built in 1887 in Sturgeon Bay, WI, the ship wrecked on June 2, 1891, while transporting sandstone blocks from Portage, MI, to Duluth. She capsized in heavy seas just four miles from the harbor entrance. As a two-masted scow schooner, the ship could sail on her own, but the available historical records indicate that she was towed by another steam-powered vessel. Investigations have revealed that the May Flower had construction features that are different from the few other scows known in the lower Great Lakes and are more similar to scows used in New Zealand. The remains were discovered in 1991 and retain significant archeological integrity, providing a wealth of information on the construction and use of scow schooners not only on Lake Superior, but throughout the rest of the Great Lakes as well.
