A father and daughter from Peshtigo, Wisconsin made an astonishing discovery during a fishing trip on Lake Michigan earlier this summer. Tim Wollak and his 6-year-old daughter Henley stumbled upon what is believed to be a 150-year-old shipwreck that had never been seen before. The wreck was not marked on any charts and had gone unnoticed by others in the area. Wollak expressed surprise at not having seen it before, considering it was in an area regularly visited by people.

After conducting some research, Wollak identified the ship as the Erie L Hackley and shared information about the find on several community Facebook groups. Eventually, the posts caught the attention of the Maritime Preservation and Archaeology Program at the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS). The WHS confirmed that the details of the wreck matched those of the barkentine George L Newman. The wooden, three-masted sailing ship was constructed in 1855 by shipwright Benjamin Flint in Black River, Ohio. It measured 122 feet long, 26.3 feet in beam, and had a depth of hold of 11 feet.

The shipwreck was tied to a significant event in history. On the evening of October 8, 1871, the George L Newman was navigating through the dense smoke caused by the Great Peshtigo Fire, which was the deadliest fire in US history, claiming the lives of over 1,200 people. The ship had been carrying a cargo of lumber from Little Suamico when it grounded on the southeast point of Green Island, Wisconsin. According to the WHS, the smoke was so thick that the Green Island lighthouse keeper had to keep the light on during the day. The crew was rescued by the keeper, Samuel Drew, and they stayed at the lighthouse for a week while salvaging items from the wrecked vessel. The ship was eventually abandoned, covered with sand, and forgotten until the Wollaks discovered it earlier this year.

Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist for the WHS, described the shipwreck as significant and rare for Wisconsin. She emphasized its connection to the Peshtigo Fire, which added to its historical importance. Wollak expressed uncertainty about whether any future fishing trips with Henley could top their exciting discovery. He shared with Fox 11 his conversation with his daughter, mentioning that he believed nobody else in her school had ever found an unrecorded shipwreck before. He expressed his intention to continue fishing and see if they can find more shipwrecks.

The discovery of the shipwreck by Tim Wollak and his daughter is a remarkable feat. It adds to the growing number of long-lost shipwrecks being found in Lake Michigan. Just a few months prior, another wreck, the schooner Trinidad, which was built in 1867 and wrecked in 1881, was also discovered in the lake. The Wisconsin Historical Society plans to conduct a search on the George L Newman shipwreck in 2024 and evaluate the site for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.