Continental Maritime Trails Marker
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Continental Maritime Trails Marker
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Continental Marker at Point Beach
 
Details
Attraction
Location
Body of Water: Lake Michigan
Trail Name: Mid Lake Michigan
Year Built: 2008
Nearest Address: Point Beach State Forest 9400 County Rd.
Nearest City: Two Rivers
County: Manitowoc
Zip Code: 54241
Latitude: N 44°13.43874'
Longitude: W -087°30.46854'
Attraction
Features
Open to public?: Yes
Mooring buoy?: No
Mooring buoy in place?: No
Snorkelable?: No
Dive guide?: No
Trails sign?: Yes
National Register?: No
Attraction
Description
The wreck of the steam-powered bulk freighter Continental lies about a mile north of the Rawley Point Lighthouse. After 22 years on the Great Lakes, the Continental met her fate in a blinding snowstorm. Early on a December morning in 1904, the Continental was steaming south past Twin Rivers Point (now Rawley Point), on her way to Manitowoc for the winter. Disoriented in the storm, the captain mistakenly steered toward shore. Without a cargo, the ship rode high in the water, and she approached shore at high speed. She finally hit a sand bar and slid far onto it. All 20 crew made their way safely to shore with help from local fishermen. Tug boats tried to pull the Continental free, but she had grounded too hard. Over the winter, the power of expanding and shifting ice destroyed the vessel. Today, the Continental sits in 15 feet of water. In periods of low water, the cylinder heads of her compound steam engine break the surface. Most of her hull structure remains. Sections of the wreckage are occasionally uncovered by shifting sand.
 
Map
 
Nearby
Attractions (8)
Continental Maritime Trails Marker
Point Beach State Forest
Rawley Point Lighthouse
Rogers Street Fishing Village
Rouse Simmons Maritime Trails Marker
S.C. Baldwin Buoy
Two Rivers North Pierhead Light
Vernon Maritime Trails Marker
Shipwrecks (33)
Aetna (1878)
Alaska (1869)
Arrow (1852)
Bessie Boalt (1868)
Boss (1881)
Boss (1882)
Continental (1882)
Crane & Front Loader Debris Field
Dart (1867)
Grace Patterson (1880)
View 23 more
Shipwrecks (33)
Aetna (1878)
Alaska (1869)
Arrow (1852)
Bessie Boalt (1868)
Boss (1881)
Boss (1882)
Continental (1882)
Crane & Front Loader Debris Field
Dart (1867)
Grace Patterson (1880)
Humko (1946)
James Navagh (1857)
John Irwin (1845)
LaSalle (1874)
Lookout (1855)
Magellan (1873)
Major Anderson (1861)
Major Barnum (1849)
Maria (1878)
Mary Ann Scott (1871)
Milton (1867)
Minnesota (1847)
Nellie Church (1867)
Nevada (1882)
Oleander (1848)
Oliver Culver (1855)
Planet (1855)
Rochester (1831)
Rouse Simmons (1868)
S.C. Baldwin (1871)
Speed (1866)
Tubal Cain (1866)
Unnamed Scow
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