Schooner-barge Advance was built in 1871 by Master Shipbuilder Alvin A. Turner at his shipyard in Trenton, Michigan, for the Peshtigo Lumber Company of Peshtigo, Wisconsin. For the next 27 years the Advance would take lumber from Peshtigo to Chicago (which was likely quite lucrative following the years after the Great Chicago Fire) and return with foodstuffs for the company's grocery store. The vessel was sold to the new Stephenson Transportation Company, owned by former higher-ups of the Peshtigo Lumber Company, in 1893; it still continued to be towed as a consort in the lumber trade, and began loading lumber at Menominee, Michigan as well. While in tow of the I. Watson Stephenson on September 5, 1896, the Advance grounded in Sturgeon Bay after having its towline cut to avoid a collision with scow Felicitous and was freed by tug Leathem with little issue.

After the ship's sale to the Leathem & Smith Towing Company, the Advance became a consort to tug I.N. Foster with schooner-barge Alert. It would continue to load and ship lumber on Lake Michigan. In June 1903 the ship filled with water and sank at the north end of the Leathem & Smith dock in Sturgeon Bay; it was left on the bottom for nearly two months until it was pumped out and transferred to service as a lighter, moving cargo between moored ships and salvaging cargo from sunken and ashore ships. The Advance began to carry stone in 1908, moving between Surgeon Bay and Algoma, Wisconsin. The ship had received a major rebuilding by 1911, losing its two masts and becoming longer and wider. It was fitted with a large hoisting derrick capable of lifting 20 tons in anticipation for the stone trade. The barge lightened cargo from stranded vessels using its derrick and transported stone from Sturgeon Bay as a consort to the tug Smith. The Advance served a major role in the building of the Leathem & Smith Company pier in 1913. The ship also utilized its derrick to recover non-cargo, such as a car in 1916 and boilers in 1920.
On the morning of October 17, 1921, the steel bulk freighter Frank Billings went ashore in Sand Bay, Wisconsin, south of Sturgeon Bay, while bound for Green Bay with cargo of soft coal. The tug Smith and lighter Advance were sent to the site and began lightening the freighter of coal. In the following days, both ships were occupied with attempting to free the Frank Billings. On October 19, high winds and heavy seas caused the Advance to take on water; the lighter was cut from its moorings and set adrift. It drifted onshore in Sand Bay that evening; the crew was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, but the lighter was damaged.

The attempt to salvage the Advance made use of two large pumps to pump water out of the hold, but a survey of the hull declared the ship too broken to be saved. The Advance's two derricks, wrecking pumps, and other wrecking machinery were salvaged from the vessel. Little else was documented of the salvage or actions after the loss, but the Advance remained under ownership of the Leathem & Smith Company until the following year. Its enrollment document was surrendered in Milwaukee on April 21, 1922, and the barge was declared abandoned.
The wreckage of the Advance lies in eight feet of water, on a rocky bottom 520 feet offshore of the Sand Bay Peninsula in Door County, Wisconsin. The location of the site has been known throughout the years; many residents of Sand Bay have shared memories of visiting it as children. Although severely broken, the vessel's keelson structure, centerboard trunk, and the lower hull of its original 1871 construction remain extant. Additionally, bustle remnants and evidence of hoisting machinery added in 1911 are visible. All of the Advance's upper deck is gone, yet the turn of the bilge is observed on the starboard side of the wreck.

Wisconsin Historical Society maritime archaeologists conducted an archaeological field school and documented the site in July 2018. The Advance site provided significant information on wooden barge conversion techniques, as the vessel was adapted for use as a lighter in 1911.