The Madeira Shipwreck Within A Lake Superior Maritime Cultural Landscape

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Approaches to Submerged and Coastal Landscapes", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The steel schooner-barge Madeira was among the first of Minnesota’s Lake Superior shipwrecks to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places, in 1992. Easily accessible to divers and at times visible from shore, the wreck has long been a popular destination. The dramatic events of the infamous 1905 Mataafa storm and the crew’s survival added to Madeira’s mystique at the time of her loss, prompting construction of Split Rock Light Station, now a National Historic Landmark, nearby by 1910. The storm pushed Madeira into the sheer face of Gold Rock Cliff, leaving the wreckage on the underwater slope of the cliff’s base. Now, based on photogrammetry and other recent investigations by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society, the National Register documentation is being updated as a historic district, recognizing Madeira’s significance within a Maritime Cultural Landscape that includes the shoreline cliff and adjacent lakebed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Approaches to Submerged and Coastal Landscapes

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow