Kate Kelly Maritime Trails Marker
Gallery
img
Kate Kelly Marker on the Grounds of Wind Point Lighthouse
img
Kate Kelly Marker on the Grounds of Wind Point Lighthouse
 
Details
Attraction
Description
About two miles offshore from here, the wooden schooner Kate Kelly lies broken and scattered in 55 feet of water. She had departed Alpena, Mich., in early May 1895, loaded with railroad ties and bound for her home port of Chicago. In command was Captain Hartley J. Hatch, one of the Great Lakes' most experienced captains. He had led Great Lakes schooners and steamers on trips to South Africa, the Mediterranean Sea and Europe. Captain Hatch was also an inventor and had outfitted the Kate Kelly with novel life-saving devices that were 'a wonder to all lakemen.' On May 13, the Kate Kelly encountered a raging storm that proved too much for her and Captain Hatch's inventions. She sank just short of her home port, as farmers watched helplessly from the shore. Soon, the only signs of the Kate Kelly were her masts protruding from the water and thousands of railroad ties floating off Wind Point. Captain Hatch and all six crewmen perished. During her three decades of service, the Kate Kelly made many long trips hauling grain and coal between Lake Michigan ports and Kingston, Ontario. Similar wooden schooners dominated Great Lakes shipping after the Civil War. Even with stiff competition from steam vessels, the adaptable vessels survived on the lakes into the 1930s.
Attraction
Location
Body of Water: Lake Michigan
Trail Name: Lower Lake Michigan
Year Built: 2006
Nearest Address: Wind Point Lighthouse 4725 Lighthouse Dr
Nearest City: Racine
County: Racine
Zip Code: 53402
Latitude: N 42°46.873'
Longitude: W -87°45.505'
Attraction
Features
Open to public?: Yes
Mooring buoy?: Yes
Mooring buoy in place?: No
Snorkelable?: No
Dive guide?: Yes
Trails sign?: Yes
National Register?: No
 
Map
 
Nearby
Attractions (6)
Kate Kelly Buoy
Kate Kelly Maritime Trails Marker
Racine Heritage Museum
Racine North Breakwater Light
Racine Reef Light
Wind Point Lighthouse
Shipwrecks (29)
Barge A (?)
Bolivar (1842)
Dolphin (1842)
Dreadnaught (1858)
Eliza (1868)
Elizabeth Jones (1867)
Evra Fuller (1873)
F.W. Backus (1846)
George Barber (1857)
H. Rand (1856)
View 19 more
Shipwrecks (29)
Barge A (?)
Bolivar (1842)
Dolphin (1842)
Dreadnaught (1858)
Eliza (1868)
Elizabeth Jones (1867)
Evra Fuller (1873)
F.W. Backus (1846)
George Barber (1857)
H. Rand (1856)
H.L. Whitman (1855)
Home (1867)
J.V. Taylor (1867)
John Eggers (1887)
Kate Kelly (1867)
Laura Johnson (1882)
M.S. Scott (1856)
Mary Ann Larned (1846)
Merchant (1862)
Mount Vernon (1855)
Persia (1855)
Peter Doling (1848)
Speed (1848)
Sunrise (1862)
Temperance (1847)
Theodore W. Maurice (1831)
Thomas H. Smith (1881)
Whirlwind (1848)
William Rudolph (1880)
View fewer
© 2023 - Wisconsin Sea Grant, Wisconsin Historical Society