On a rocky bottom 2.5 miles south-southeast of Concordia University, in Mequon, Wisconsin, the steambarge J. M. Allmendinger lies in 12 feet of water on the bottom of Lake Michigan. The vessel’s keel, keelson, and floors remain intact on the site along with scattered hull fragments, rudder, and boiler.

The J. M. Allmendinger was built by shipwright Albert Burgoine and was used primarily in the lumber trade. In November of 1895 J. M. Allmendinger bound for Milwaukee with a load of lumber when it was caught in a snowstorm. The winds were so strong that vessel was knocked off course and ran aground north of Fox Point.

As one of only a few small steambarges in Wisconsin waters, the J. M. Allmendinger provides historians and archaeologists the rare chance to study the construction of the vessel, and adaptation for lumber transported through the Great Lakes. The J. M. Allmendinger is the only reported example English-influenced keel construction techniques through its builder’s use of rising wood on the Great Lakes.

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

Wisconsin Shipwrecks