For Immediate Release

Contact: Kara O’Keeffe
608-261-9596
[email protected]

August 30, 2018

Wisconsin Historical Society Placed the Selah Chamberlain Shipwreck on the State Register of Historic Places

Sheboygan, Wis. - The Wisconsin Historical Society placed the Selah Chamberlain Shipwreck (Vicinity of Sheboygan, Sheboygan County) on the State Register of Historic Places on August 17, 2018. 

The bulk carrier Selah Chamberlain, built in 1887, and sunk in 1886 is located two miles northeast of Sheboygan Point, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, partially covered by sand in 87 feet of water in Lake Michigan. The Selah Chamberlain was built by the shipbuilding firm of Quayle and Martin in Cleveland, Ohio, commissioned by the Bradley Transportation Company for the transportation of bulk commodities. The vessel was in service for 13 years, until it met an untimely end in a collision with a passing steamer. The Selah Chamberlain represents a critical transitional period in wooden shipbuilding technology between the earlier steambarges and the development of the bulk freighter.  The Selah Chamberlain reflects early bulk freighter design and is significant because it presents an opportunity to study and learn more about the experimentation that took place to successfully make this transition.

State laws protect this shipwreck. Divers may not remove artifacts or structure when visiting this site. Removing, defacing, displacing, or destroying artifacts or sites, is a crime. More information on Wisconsin’s historic shipwrecks may be found by visiting Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Shipwrecks website.

The State Register is Wisconsin's official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin's heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin.

To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visitwww.wisconsinhistory.org.

About Wisconsin Historical Society

The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit www.wisconsinhistory.org.

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