William Barnum

Built in 1873 in Detroit MI, the wood steamer, William H. Barnum, plied the Great Lakes for more than 20 years before reaching her demise. She was under the command of the 29 year old Capt. William Smith, on his first voyage as master of the Barnum when she sank. The Barnum left Chicago harbor on April fools day 1894 loaded with corn for Port Huron. The Barnum left Chicago harbor along with 18 others ships, including the steamer Minneapolis, which sank the day before the Barnum. The heavy weather and grinding ice in the Straits proved to be to much for the Barnum and she started taking on water. The tug Crusader came to her rescue and tried to pull her into shallow water, but her efforts were also halted by the ice. The Crusader took the crew of the Barnum and they watched her vanish beneath the ice and waves on the morning of April 3, 1894. No lives were lost. The William Barnum now lies upright and mostly intact in 74' of water five and a half miles east of the bridge in Lake Huron. She is moored on top of her single cylinder engine. Most of the decks have fall in, but are still intact in at the bow, offering penetration opportunities. The boilers are also an impressive site. The stern transom has broken up, as a result of her rudder being removed in 1969, before the laws of the Preserve protected her. Her propeller is still visible to the observant diver. The rudder can be seen in St. Igance between the ACE hardware and the city marina. William Barnum is also known as William H Barnum.