The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the listing of the Abiah shipwreck in the National Register of Historic Places. Abiah lies submerged in Lake Michigan about 13 miles northeast of the Sheboygan Harbor lighthouse.
The schooner Abiah was launched in Irving, New York in late summer 1847. The vessel operated in the Great Lakes grain and lumber trades throughout its career. In September 1855, while in route from Chicago to Oconto, Wisconsin, Abiah was struck by a sudden squall and capsized. The vessel was towed to within 15 miles of Sheboygan where it was finally overtaken by waves and sank. Abiah’s location remained unknown until the site was discovered in 2019. The vessel is largely intact and is submerged beneath 220 feet of water. The site has the potential to yield a wealth of information about early schooner construction on the Great Lakes.
The National Register is the official list of historic properties in America deemed worthy of preservation and is maintained by the National Park Service in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Wisconsin Historical Society administers the program within Wisconsin. It includes sites, buildings, structures, objects and districts that are significant in national, state or local history, architecture, archaeology, engineering or culture.
Additional information for the Abiah is available at
To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit https://wisconsinhistory.org/hp/register/
About the Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit https://wisconsinhistory.org
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