National Register of Historic Places

PRETORIA (schooner-barge) Shipwreck Site (Additional Documentation)

Bayfield, Ashland County, Wisconsin
Listed
August 16, 1994
Type
Site
Period
Listed
Ref No.
94000835

About this property

Pretoria, an American schooner barge, was one of the largest wooden ships ever constructed. She was 103 meters (338 ft) long, had a beam of 13.4 meters (44 ft), and 7 meters (23 ft) in depth. She was built by James Davidson in West Bay City, Michigan, for use on the Great Lakes. To strengthen her wooden frame and hull, Pretoria was constructed using steel keelson plates, steel chords, and steel arches. She also was strapped diagonally with steel. She needed a donkey engine to run a pump to keep her interior dry. The schooner "Pretoria, the largest wooden boat ever built, was launched at Davidson's shipyard this afternoon, in the presence of a vast multitude. The "Pretoria" will carry 5,000 tons of iron ore, 175,000 bushels of wheat, or 300,000 bushels of oats... On 1 September 1905, Pretoria took on cargo at a pier in Superior, Wisconsin. Another notable ship, the lake freighter Sevona, took on cargo at the same pier shortly after Pretoria. Both ships sank the very next day near the Apostle Islands when a legendary gale sent them to the bottom of Lake Superior.

Location

Bayfield, Ashland County, Wisconsin

Categories

HISTORIC - NON-ABORIGINALENGINEERINGTRANSPORTATION
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Questions about this property

When was PRETORIA (schooner-barge) Shipwreck Site (Additional Documentation) listed on the National Register?

PRETORIA (schooner-barge) Shipwreck Site (Additional Documentation) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 16, 1994.

What type of historic resource is PRETORIA (schooner-barge) Shipwreck Site (Additional Documentation)?

PRETORIA (schooner-barge) Shipwreck Site (Additional Documentation) is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for PRETORIA (schooner-barge) Shipwreck Site (Additional Documentation)?

The period of significance for PRETORIA (schooner-barge) Shipwreck Site (Additional Documentation) is recorded as the listed era.

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Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near PRETORIA (schooner-barge) Shipwreck Site (Additional Documentation) will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.

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