Bay Shore Park Anchor

Bay Shore Park Anchor. . This type of anchor was in use before the discovery of America, and was common on the Great Lakes up to the end of the sailing era. Old sailing schooners carried them, and these boats saw many more years’ usefulness on the Great Lakes after their years as sailing vessels were over. With the coming of steam vessels these old sailing schooners were converted to tow barges. The sails and masts were removed to make room for cargo space, but the huge anchors remained. , This anchor is believed to be from the Annie M. Peterson, an old sailing schooner that had been converted to a tow barge. The anchor was salvaged from Lake Superior east of Grand Marais near the mouth of the Two Hearted River when it washed ashore in 1955. , The steamer G.F. Curtis and her two tow barges, the Peterson and the Seldon F. Marvin were wrecked in a November gale off Grand Marais in 1914. The boats were loaded with lumber and were bound from Baraga, Michigan. to Tonawanda, New York, with twenty six persons aboard. During the storm on Friday, November 18th, 1914, the bodies of six men and two women along with considerable wreckage from the Peterson and Curtis were found about five miles east of Grand Marais. A total of eighteen bodies were recovered. , Many of these anchors in the Great Lakes area were not left by wrecks caused by storms, but due to the fact that these anchors had to be raised by hand using capstans. The boat often carried about 1500 feet of anchor chain, and it was such a tremendous task to raise the anchor that the chains were cut and anchors left behind.