Shotline Diving

Connecting You to the Depths of the Great Lakes

Riverside (1870)

Explore the wreck of the Riverside, a three-masted schooner lost in 1893 during a hurricane, now resting in Lake Erie.

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

  • Name: Riverside
  • Type: Three-masted schooner
  • Year Built: 1870 (rebuilt 1884 & 1889)
  • Dimensions: Length ~140 ft (42.67 m); Beam 25.5 ft; Depth of hold 10.8 ft
  • Depth at Wreck Site: 23 m / 75 ft
  • Location: ~30 miles off Cleveland, Ohio
  • Original Owners: Capt. John M. Jones
  • Number of Masts: Three

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

  • Three-masted schooner (converted from original two-masted design)

Description

The Riverside was a wooden-hulled, three-masted schooner constructed for general bulk cargoes such as stone and limestone. Following rebuilds in 1884 and 1889, it sailed the lower Great Lakes carrying limestone from quarries such as Kelleys Island. It had a plain head design and standard deck configuration for Great Lakes schooners of its era.

History

Originally launched in 1870, Riverside was retrofitted to a 3-masted schooner, increasing her tonnage and making her capable of heavier hauls across Lakes Erie and Ontario. In October 1893, she loaded 670 tons of limestone at Kelleys Island for Tonawanda, NY. Her owner at the time was Capt. John M. Jones of Detroit. The ship’s final captain was David G. Farrington, accompanied by his wife Annie Farrington (ship’s cook), mate Capt. Joseph Hargrove, and his son John Hargrove, seaman John Paige, and two unidentified sailors from Sandusky.

Prior to departure, seamen William Raymond and William Whelan left the vessel. They were initially listed as casualties but later confirmed alive.

Casualties: All seven aboard were lost.

Significant Incidents

Final Disposition

Caught in the remnants of Hurricane No. 9 (The Great Storm of 1893), the Riverside never reached Tonawanda. It was last seen under full sail in Lake Erie. On October 22, 1893, the fish tug R.T. Roy discovered her two topmasts sticking out of the lake 30 miles off Cleveland. Documents later recovered from debris confirmed her identity.

Tug Louisa was chartered to visit the site, and diver Walter Metcalf visually confirmed the wreck by matching topmast splices and gilded tops. No bodies were recovered, though frayed ropes and clothing found on the spars suggest crew members lashed themselves in a final effort to survive.

Current Condition & Accessibility

Located: October 6, 2007
Discoverers: Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE) – David VanZandt, Kevin Magee, Jim Paskert, Tom Kowalczk
Method: Side-scan sonar survey and archaeological dive
Condition: Upright, largely intact, missing cabin and mizzenmast, stone cargo remains onboard.

Resources & Links

References are being reviewed for this wreck.

The Riverside represents both a tragic human loss and a critical case study of Great Lakes schooner construction and storm vulnerability. Lost in one of the deadliest inland storms on record, it exemplifies how hurricane remnants impacted even sheltered waters. Its rediscovery and precise documentation by CLUE in 2007 stands as a benchmark for collaborative maritime archaeology.