1910 Michigan City shipwreck granted nature preservation

MICHIGAN CITY, IND. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A shipwreck off Mount Baldy in the Indiana Dunes National Park has been officially dedicated as an underwater nature preserve.

The 220-foot wooden-hulled Muskegon burned down to the waterline while docked in Michigan City in 1910 and was later towed out and scuttled.

Professor Charles Beeker, director of the Indiana University Center for Underwater Science helped to place a marker at the site.

“This is a really fascinating vessel,” Beeker sid. “We’re calling it Muskegon because in 1908 it was renamed the Muskegon,  but I like to refer to it as the ‘Peerless.’  It was built in 1872.  It was launched as one of the finest vessels in the Great Lakes, running from Chicago to Duluth, with cargo and passengers on board.”

Dan Bortner is the state’s DNR director.

“Indiana has a maritime history,” Bortner said. “You just don’t consider that.  Last thing you think about is shipwrecks, but Indiana has fifteen of them along the coastal line.”

The ship sits in about 30 feet of water about a quarter-mile offshore. The steam engine, boilers, drive shaft, propeller and part of the wood structure are intact.

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