The Meteor is the final surviving above water example of a whaleback carrier. It is significant to the state of Wisconsin, the Great Lakes region, and this nation due to its significance to our maritime, transportation, and engineering history. Whalebacks were designed by Captain Alexander McDougall and built in Superior, Wisconsin where the Meteor resides today as museum ship open to the public seasonally for tours.

Whalebacks were innovative for their time with their unique cigar-shaped steel hulls that rode low in the water and fully maximized the space below decks for cargo, such as iron ore and grain, while having minimal draft. When fully loaded only the rounded portion of the upper hull was seen and resembled the back of a whale, hence the name “whaleback.” In total, McDougall designed 43 whaleback steamships and barges in the United States between 1888 and 1898.

Meteor remains today as the last of its kind and as a testament to American ingenuity and Great Lakes shipbuilding tradition. The steamer sailed the inland seas for 73 years until she was donated to the City of Superior. It is a unique and an important example of American entrepreneurship that is connected to the industrial growth during the turn of the twentieth century through its participation in the iron ore trade and eventually the transport of bulk oil. Through the foresight of the Meteor’s last owners and the dedication of the City of Superior, Wisconsin, and Superior Public Museums, Inc. the whaleback sits proudly in its berth up on land as an ambassador for Wisconsin’s maritime heritage.