Shipwreck Sighting along Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

A hiker stumbled across a rare sighting along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

A piece of history revealed itself again after being covered for several years.

It’s a fragment of the schooner Annie and Jennie that sank off the shore of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, in Leelanau County, more than 140 years ago.

“Pieces become buried in the sand dunes and then we get high water, wave erosion, they become uncovered,” says Laura Quackenbush, historian at Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is lucky to see so many pieces of shipwrecks wash ashore. Last week a hiker stumbled across this particular fragment that experts believe belongs to the schooner Jennie and Annie which sunk in 1872, taking seven lives.

“This is what we call the bilges and probably the keelsons, although that may be under the sand,” says Quackenbush.

In 2012, a local photographer was able to fully see what washed ashore. Quackenbush says, “As they uncover and cover, they are new discoveries for the people that find them, which is great way to learn about history and get you hooked.”

Laura says the wreck is protected by the lakeshore, so only nature can move these historic pieces. “It is a vanishing legacy, we take measurements now, we take pictures now and we actually take GPS coordinates on all the pieces we find,” says Quackenbush.

Even though it’s a hike to get out here, it’s worth the trip and Laura encourages people to enjoy history along the lakeshore. “As long as the ice is still on the beach here, it will be here for awhile,” says Quackenbush.

This fragment is just one part of the Manitou Passage that consists of several other shipwrecks.

The state technically owns the fragments and encourages people to look at them but it’s illegal to disturb them.