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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Door County Advocate | Steamer | Search | 1915-12-23 | 1 | To have boiler work done | |
| Door County Advocate | Steamer | Search | 1915-06-24 | 1 | Engaged in taking soundings | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Survey tug | Search | 1914-10-09 | 5 | The government survey tug Search has been working along the shore between here and Kewaunee the last week taking soundings and surveys. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steamer | Search | 1914-10-23 | 1 | Work of charting the lake off this port will take until about November 1st at which time they will sail for Cleveland to go into winter quarters. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Tug | Search | 1916-12-22 | 1 | On Tuesday the tug Search arrived with 300 barrels of salted fish and the Stewart Edwards arrived with 1,000 pounds of fresh whitefish and trout and 82 barrels of salt fish. Both left to lay up at Detroit Harbor. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steamer | Search | 1915-01-15 | 2 | Kewaunee. Will return to Kewaunee and continue the lake survey off this port next May. | |
| Door County Advocate | Steamer | Search | 1916-06-01 | 1 | In port | |
| Door County Advocate | Steamer | Search | 1915-10-21 | 2 | Arrived | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Survey boat | Search | 1913-08-29 | 4 | Government has undertaken a complete survey of the great Lakes for preparing new charts. The last survey in use was made in 1871. The survey boat Search has started work out of Sheboygan. | |
| Ahnapee (Algoma) Record | Steamer | Search | 1914-10-23 | 1 | The survey boat has an engineering crew numbering 22 men. They worked out of this port the last few days and will probably remain several days. |
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.