The scow schooner Alaska was constructed under the hand of Master Ship Carpenter Smith Neville, Sr. at Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and launched on June 18, 1869. The Alaska was built for Sheboygan businessman Adolph Hoechner, primarily for use in the lumber trade on Lake Michigan and co-owned with the ship's Master C. Kleiver. At the time of its registration, the boat was described as a wooden scow schooner with one deck and two masts. The Alaska changed owners and masters on multiple occasions over its decade-long service career.
Early in 1879, while heading north from Milwaukee to Ahnapee, Wisconsin for a load of lumber, the Alaska caught in a gale. It was blown ashore on Two Rivers Point. The crew all escaped the vessel safely, although they were drenched and mildly suffered from exposure. An attempt to refloat the Alaska damaged the vessel. Further attempts to repair and remove the vessel from the beach spanned the next two years; the winter of 1879-1880 was especially harsh, and all efforts to save the Alaska failed. It was declared a total loss in June of 1881 and abandoned to rest in the quicksand south of Two Rivers Point.
The Alaska lies in five feet of water on the bottom of Lake Michigan, partially covered by sand south off the southern end of Point Beach State Park. The vessel’s bow, deck machinery, centerboard trunk, some rigging implements, and much of its hull structure, remain intact on the site beneath the shifting sand. The site was discovered in May 2014 by a, ultralight aircraft pilot, Suzze Johnson, when enough of the wreckage was exposed due to sand movement. As of 2015 the Alaska is mostly buried in quicksand, but is still lightly visited by divers, snorkelers, kayakers and boaters. The vessel's stern, and portions of its lower hull and associated debris field are covered by the shifting sands. The windlass and anchor chains are still extant.