Search below for stories about ships, lighthouses, sailors and anything else about life on Lake Michigan. The database contains references to articles from the Ahnapee (Algoma) Record (June 12, 1873 to Jan. 7, 1927), the Door County Advocate (Nov. 8, 1861 to Dec. 22, 1949), and the Manitowoc Pilot (June 14, 1859 to Dec. 28, 1899). The results will direct you to the date and page in these newspapers where the article can be found.
Microfilm copies of the Ahnapee (Algoma) Record are available at the Wisconsin Historical Society Library in Madison, Algoma Public Library in Algoma. Microfilm copies of the Door County Advocate are available at the Wisconsin Historical Society Library in Madison, the Door County Public Library in Sturgeon Bay, and the Brown County Library in Green Bay. Microfilm of the Manitowoc Pilot are available at the Manitowoc County Historical Society, the Manitowoc Public Library, and the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison.
Check with your local library about obtaining the microfilm via interlibrary loan.
| Newspaper | Object | Name | Date | Page | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1891-03-26 | 3 | Capt. James Tufts is having his steambarge, Mary Mills, fitted out ready to go into commission. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steam barge | Mary Mills | 1891-04-30 | 3 | Large amounts of hay to be shipped at Clay Banks by Chris. Braunsdorf and Capt. James Tufts on Mary Mills. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1890-12-25 | 3 | In port. She was light from Chicago. Intention of her master to take a cargo of wood from Clay Banks to Milwaukee. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steam barge | Mary Mills | 1891-11-12 | 3 | The steam barge has been released from the rocks on Green Island reef. She is owned by Capt. Jas. Tuffts. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1891-12-31 | 3 | The steambarge Mary Mills tarried in the harbor here a few hours last Tuesday. She was bound south with a cargo of wood. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1892-01-07 | 3 | Owned by Capt. Jas. Tufts, of Clay Banks, has placed the Mary Mills in winter quarters at Manitowoc. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1892-12-08 | 3 | Went out and lightened the then stranded steamer Ann Arbor No.1, by taking the apples and part of the coal from that steamer. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1893-02-02 | 3 | There are seven men at work on the craft. She will be so greatly improved in outward appearance that the "old salts" will not recognize her. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1892-12-15 | 3 | The schooner Wm. Finch was towed to Clay Banks by the steambarge Mary Mills where she loaded slabs fort Capt. Jas. Tufts. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steambarge | Mary Mills | 1892-12-29 | 3 | The Mills will be raised considerably, and her carrying capacity thereby increased. |
This database is a cooperative effort of the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association (WUAA), the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS), and the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute. The project is spearheaded by WUAA member Russel Leitz, who helped develop a framework for the database and painstakingly combed through 54 years of the Ahnapee (Algoma) Record, 87 years of the Door County Advocate and 40 years of the Manitowoc Pilot for maritime news. The more than 50,000 references are the fruit of his labor alone.