Schooners

Schooners. . , Schooners , By the 1840s, farming had transformed the western frontier into America's breadbasket. Moving grain to national and worldwide markets required a vast number of specialized ships. In the age of sail, purpose-built canal schooners filled Great Lakes harbors and dominated the grain trade., The Welland Canal's 150-foot by 26-foot locks limited the size of ships that could pass between Lakes Erie and Ontario. Constructed just a few feet shorter and narrower than these locks, canal schooners maximized their payload on every trip. Every extra inch of hull meat more bushels of grain and more profit for owners. On some schooners, hinged bowsprits and stern davits could be folded inboard to allow maximum hull length within the locks., Even with these efficiencies, the country depended on a large number of these ships to meet its transportation needs. In 1862, Buffalo alone received over 58 million bushels of Midwest grain and a typical canal schooner carried just 16,000 bushels per trip , a mere .0003% of Buffalo's total that year. By 1871, two thousand schooners sailed the Great Lakes, most carrying grain eastward and coal westward. Dozens of these sailing craft sank in what is now Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Preserved by Lake Huron's cold, fresh water, these shipwrecks are underwater museums of the Great Lakes rich maritime history., The 4,300-square-mile Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary protects the Great Lakes and their rich history. Through research, education, and community involvement, the sanctuary endures that future generations can enjoy our irreplaceable underwater treasures., The sanctuary encourages paddlers, divers, and snorkelers to visit Thunder Bay's shipwrecks. Seasonal mooring buoys can be found on many popular shipwrecks. Moorings not only make shipwrecks easier to locate and safer to visit, they also help prevent anchor damage to these irreplaceable historical sites., The Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Trail connects visitors with Lake Huron's fascinating maritime past. Whether, diving a shipwreck or climbing a lighthouse, you can find more stories along the trail. This marker was funded by a federal Transportation Enhancement Grant and by the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments, Please join the sanctuary in preserving our maritime heritage for future generations. Removing artifacts or damaging shipwrecks is illegal. Please report looting to the DNR 1-800-292-7500., All artwork, historic and underwater images courtesy of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary unless otherwise noted.