Sturgeon Bay in Door County, Wisconsin — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Steam Barge Joys

Historic Shipwreck

— Wisconsin's Maritime Trails —

Steam Barge Joys Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Robert L Weber, June 13, 2011

1. Steam Barge Joys Marker

Inscription. Resting 150 yards off shore from here is the wreckage of the steam barge Joys, a vessel once hailed as a “greyhound among lumber carriers” for her record-breaking speed. The Joys was constructed in 1884 in the Milwaukee Ship Yard Company. She hauled lumber, iron, and stone through the Sturgeon Bay ship canal between Menominee and the ports of Milwaukee, Chicago, Manistee and Michigan City. The Joys’ career ended on December 23, 1898. While at anchor in the canal, a fire broke out about one o’clock a.m. Reports conflict about where the fire started, but Captain John A. Connelly saw flames from his room in the wheelhouse, threw on his clothes, and sounded the alarm. The crew narrowly escaped as the blaze intensified. The mate and steward were forced to jump to the ice wearing nothing but their shirts. Accounts suggest that the crew then worked from shore to pull the bow of the vessel into the wind to keep the fire from spreading forward. But the line burned, and the current carried the Joys toward the canal office and government warehouse. To save these buildings, staff from the Sturgeon Bay Lifesaving Station helped attach

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a chain and anchor to the forward part of the hull. Eventually, the burning steam barge was towed back to its moorings, where it burned to the waterline and sank. The Joys was unceremoniously abandoned at her current location on the north side of the Pankratz Lumber Company, where she was utilized for some years as a breakwater.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Disasters • Waterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the Wisconsin’s Maritime Trails series list. A significant historical month for this entry is December 1854.

Location. 44° 50.819′ N, 87° 23.195′ W. Marker is in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, in Door County. It can be reached from Alabama Street. Located on hiking trail within Sunset Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Sturgeon Bay WI 54235, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula.

It is also in the American Midwest

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds

Photographed by Robert L Weber, June 13, 2011

2. Steam Barge Joys Marker

itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture

and also the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Bradley Crandall Sawmill Site (approx. ¼ mile away); Historic Sturgeon Bay (approx. 0.9 miles away); ‘Old Bell’ Tower (approx. 0.9 miles away); Hay Hardware (approx. 0.9 miles away); 110-114 North 3rd Avenue (approx. 0.9 miles away); Public Library (approx. one mile away); Merchants Exchange Bank (approx. one mile away); Masonic Temple (approx. one mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sturgeon Bay.

Photographed by Robert L Weber, June 13, 2011

3. Steam Barge Joys Marker

Photographed by Robert L Weber, June 13, 2011

4. Steam Barge Joys Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on January 14, 2025. It was originally submitted on June 14, 2011, by Bob (peach) Weber of Dewey, Arizona. This page has been viewed 1,587 times since then and 29 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on June 14, 2011, by Bob (peach) Weber of Dewey, Arizona. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.