1.02 miles NNE of Amsterdam Park boat launch, in Lake Michigan

Summary

Atlanta Shipwreck (Steam Screw)
1.02 miles north northeast of Amsterdam Park boat launch in Lake Michigan, Cedar Grove, Sheboygan County
Builder: Cleveland Dry Dock Company
Date of Construction: 1891

The remains of screw steamer Atlanta lies in 17 feet of water in Lake Michigan, partially covered by sand. Lower hull structure, artifacts, and machine implements, remain intact on the site. The Cleveland Dry Dock Company built Atlanta in Cleveland, Ohio. The vessel operated primarily in the transportation of passengers and manufactured goods across Lake Michigan.

In 1906, while heading toward Sheboygan, Wisconsin with passengers and freight, the steamer caught fire. Great efforts were made to put out the flame, but the location of the blaze and flammability of cargo on board foiled every effort. Passengers and crew were saved by the actions of the fishing tug Tessler and crew and transferred to passing Goodrich Steamer Georgia. She ultimately could not be saved and the tug Tessler towed the burning hulk into shallower waters where it remains today.

As one of the few passenger and packet freighters in Wisconsin water, the Atlanta provides historians and archaeologists the rare chance to study the construction of the vessel, the implementation of heat and electricity, and an insight into the lives and cargos that were transported through 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

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