Nearly 140 years after it sank and 50-plus years after extensive searches began, the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association wants to welcome you aboard the schooner F.J. King.
The organization announced the discovery of the long-lost shipwreck 139 years to the day it foundered in a storm near Baileys Harbor. The F.J. King has flummoxed researchers and underwater archeologists since the 1970s, before Principal Investigator Brendon Baillod and a group of 20 citizen scientists and community historians made their discovery on June 28th, 2025. The F.J. King was used in the grain and iron ore trades before a gale caused its demise on September 15th, 1886. Cana Island Lighthouse Keeper William Sanderson reported the location of the shipwreck a week later to the local paper to advise the public to avoid the area or meet a similar fate, but it was never found until now. Baillod says his crew was able to find the F.J. King thanks to high-tech equipment and a trove of original documents that were digitized, including Sanderson’s account.
He still credits the work of the entire team of citizen scientists and community historians for their assistance in the find, as he tries to make underwater archeology more accessible to the public.
Thanks to thousands of pictures taken during the discovery, you can explore the F.J. King via 3D virtual reality tours using the Oculus VR headset. The experience will be part of an in-person press conference and an opportunity to meet the discovery team at the Door County Maritime Museum on September 24th at 11 a.m. This is the fifth shipwreck Baillod has assisted in finding in the last three years.
