Posted by Brendon Baillod on December 01, 19103 at 17:23:22:
In Reply to: Area with the most Shipwrecks in Lake Michigan! posted by David Miesch on December 01, 19103 at 09:19:23:
In terms of historical total losses, it is difficult to quantify an area as having the "most" wrecks because of the different lengths of coast. Wrecks were primarily a function of traffic volume and secondly a function of hazards.
Certainly, Chicago leads with Milwaukee a close second. Milwaukee was the busiest port on Lake Michigan for most of the 19th century. Door County would probably be third, but it has a vast amount of coastline, so in a sense it's not a fair comparison. Mile for mile, the Michigan coast and the Wisconsin coast from Algoma to Kenosha easily beat Door County for the highest incidence of wrecks.
The ten mile radius around Racine probably beats anywhere on the Lake for concentration of accidents per square mile because of the heavy traffic associated with Milwaukee and Chicago and because of the treacherous reef.
My reseach shows a slightly higher incidence of wrecks along the Wisconsin shore than the Michigan shore, probably due again to traffic volume and population centers.
BB
: Diver-Historians
: What area of Lake Michigan has the greatest concentration of Shipwrecks?
: From what I've seen on a shipwreck map it seems to be around Chicago, then
: around the Straits, and then Door County. What do you think?
: Dave