You can find one of the newest additions to the State Register of Historic Places off the shoreline of the Town of Liberty Grove. The F.J. King shipwreck was one of five additions to the list announced by the Wisconsin Historical Society last week.
Constructed in Toledo, Ohio, in 1867, the F.J. King was used for the coal and grain trade between Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes. In September 1886, the F.J. King met its fate when it sprang a leak while carrying iron ore from Escanaba, Michigan, to Chicago and sank near Door County.
Principal Investigator Brendon Baillod and a group of 20 citizen scientists and community historians discovered the vessel last June and showed off their discovery last September at a presentation hosted by the Door County Maritime Museum. Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands’ Capt. Stiles Meredith and Capt. Scott Nelson were at the controls of their organization’s boat, The Shoreline, when the discovery was made.
They said that they had always wanted to be part of an expedition to discover a shipwreck, and they are still amazed that their goal has been realized.
According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, the F.J. King remains very intact and has not been visited by divers outside of the initial surveys. Thanks to thousands of pictures taken during the discovery, you can explore the F.J. King via 3D virtual reality tours using an Oculus VR headset.
