Bicycles entered the United States on the East Coast from Europe in 1869. By 1880, bicycling in the U.S. had become so popular that the League of American Wheelmen (LAW) was founded. One of LAW’s …
Transportation
Wisconsin Road Conditions
One of the biggest impediments to the progress of the popularity of bicycling in the late 19th century was bad roads. Wisconsin roads in the 1880s were “plagued by mud, poor signage, and crumbling bridges …
Great Lakes Shipping and the SS Meteor
The SS Meteor sailed the lakes longer than most ships of her day, and in her many reincarnations she offers a portrait of how some of the industries on the Great Lakes changed– and what those changes …
The American Steel Barge Company
Duluth, MN and Superior, WI face each other across the Saint Louis Bay. In the mid-nineteenth century, as grain harvests of the northern plains expanded, logging grew, and as iron and copper mining developed in …
Early Lifesaving Stations in Wisconsin
A Slow Beginning As maritime commerce grew in the early 19th century, the loss of vessels and crews to shipwreck increased. In 1848, the federal government, through the United States Revenue Marine, established its first lifesaving …
The Wreck of the Tanner
The Wrecked Vessel The Tanner was a barque, or three-masted ship whose foremast was square-rigged and whose main-and mizzenmasts were fore-and-aft rigged. She measured 156.38 feet long by 31.75 feet in breadth. She was built in 1863 by the Milwaukee …
The Rescuers of the Tanner
On September 10, 1875, six rescue boat volunteers were dispatched to aid the crew of the Tanner, a cargo ship foundering in Milwaukee Harbor after being struck by a powerful storm. All six of the rescue boat …