A Cultural Landscape Approach (CLA) Overview and Sourcebook for Wisconsin’s Mid-Lake Michigan Maritime Heritage Trail Region Prepared by John Odin Jensen, PhD University of Rhode Island—Kingston, RI Sea Education Association—Woods Hole, MA & Philip Alexander Hartmeyer, MA East Carolina University For The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of National Marine Sanctuaries © John Odin Jensen and Philip Alexander Hartmeyer, 2014 1 Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ 4 List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. 5 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter I. Area Location and Shipwreck Patterns ................................................................... 8 The Mid-Lake Maritime Heritage Location and Wisconsin Shipwrecks ............................ 8 General Observations on Shipwrecks and Environment in the Mid-Lake Region ............ 9 Observations on Coastal Geomorphology and Shipwrecks ................................................ 10 Wisconsin Shipwrecks and the Mid-Lake Region ............................................................... 11 Mid-Lake Michigan Shipwreck Locations ........................................................................... 12 Shipwrecks by Era, Type, and Cause.................................................................................... 14 Annual Wreck Patterns .......................................................................................................... 16 Broad Scale Patterns in Mid-Lake Wreck Cargoes ............................................................. 17 Sailing Vessels.......................................................................................................................... 18 Pioneer Steam Vessels and Disasters..................................................................................... 19 Phoenix ................................................................................................................................. 20 Delaware ............................................................................................................................... 21 Niagara ................................................................................................................................. 21 Toledo ................................................................................................................................... 21 Chapter II: The Biophysical Foundations of the Mid-Lake Maritime Cultural Landscape 28 Geology..................................................................................................................................... 28 Bedrock Geology ................................................................................................................... 28 Glacial Geology .................................................................................................................... 29 Submerged Geology .............................................................................................................. 34 Lake Water Levels .................................................................................................................. 35 Climate and Weather .............................................................................................................. 36 Winds and Storms ................................................................................................................. 36 Temperature, Ice, and Precipitation ..................................................................................... 36 Major Natural Resources Connected with the Historical Maritime Cultural Landscape37 Forests................................................................................................................................... 37 Fish ....................................................................................................................................... 39 Stone ...................................................................................................................................... 41 Energy Sources ........................................................................................................................ 41 Chapter III. The Pioneer Era: Transforming Western Lake Michigan into an Atlantic Maritime Landscape 1800 – 1860. ............................................................................................. 42 The Western Lake Michigan Maritime Cultural Landscape before 1830 ........................ 42 Mid-Lake Harbor Surveys of 1836 – Baseline Studies in Maritime Cultural Landscape 44 Manitowoc............................................................................................................................. 44 Sheboygan ............................................................................................................................. 47 Commercial Growth and Developing Harbors 1840 - 1859 ................................................ 49 2 Manitowoc and Two Rivers .................................................................................................. 49 Sheboygan ............................................................................................................................. 52 Port Washington ................................................................................................................... 56 Pioneer Era Shipbuilding in the Mid-Lake Region ............................................................. 56 The Mid-Lake Ports at the End of the Pioneer Era ............................................................. 59 Chapter IV. The Maritime Cultural Landscape Highlights Post 1860 .................................. 61 Harbor Engineering at Manitowoc and Sheboygan 1860 - 1910 ......................................... 61 Aids to Navigation and Life Saving ...................................................................................... 66 Shipbuilding 1860-1910 .......................................................................................................... 69 Chapter V. National Register Cultural Landscape Criteria to the Mid-Lake Michigan Region........................................................................................................................................... 76 Wisconsin and the Maritime Cultural Landscape ............................................................... 77 Cultural Landscapes and Historic Preservation. ................................................................. 79 Mid-Lake Michigan Maritime Heritage Trail as a Rural Cultural Landscape. ............... 80 Rural Historic Landscape Characteristics ........................................................................... 80 Land Uses and Activities. ....................................................................................................... 81 Patterns of Spatial Organization ........................................................................................... 82 Response to the Natural Environment .................................................................................. 83 Cultural Traditions ................................................................................................................. 83 Circulation Networks.............................................................................................................. 84 Boundary Demarcations ......................................................................................................... 84 Vegetation Related to Land Use ............................................................................................ 84 Buildings, Structures, and Objects ........................................................................................ 85 Clusters .................................................................................................................................... 85 Archaeological Sites and Small Scale Elements ................................................................... 86 References Cited.......................................................................................................................... 87 3 List of Figures FIGURE 1. The four Maritime Trails regions. ............................................................................... 8 FIGURE 2. The Mid-Lake Region Historic Shipwrecks. ............................................................. 12 FIGURE 3. Mid-Lake Region shipwrecks superimposed with bathymetry data. ........................ 13 FIGURE 4. Mid-Lake Region shipwrecks superimposed with 1868 navigation lanes. ............... 13 FIGURE 5. Mid-Lake Region wreck data by decade. .................................................................. 15 FIGURE 6. Sail vs. steam losses among Mid-Lake Region shipwrecks. ..................................... 16 FIGURE 7. Great Lakes steamboat routes in 1848....................................................................... 19 FIGURE 8. Woodcut engraving of the propeller Phoenix. ........................................................... 20 FIGURE 9. Bedrock geology of Wisconsin. ................................................................................ 28 FIGURE 10. Glacial