While it may rest on the bottom of Lake Michigan, the F.J. King shipwreck was added earlier this week to the National Register of Historic Places.

Constructed in Toledo, Ohio, in 1867, the F.J. King was used in the coal and grain trade between Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes. In September 1886, the vessel met its fate when it sprang a leak while carrying iron ore from Escanaba, Michigan, to Chicago and sank near Door County.

Last June, Principal Investigator Brendon Baillod and a group of 20 citizen scientists and community historians discovered the vessel near Cana Island. Among them were Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands Capt. Stiles Meredith and Capt. Scott Nelson, who said last September they had always wanted to be part of an expedition to discover a shipwreck and are still amazed their goal became a reality.

Despite nearly five decades of unsuccessful searches, Baillod credited advances in technology and a trove of original documents that had been digitized with helping locate the wreck.

Thanks to thousands of photographs taken during the discovery, visitors can explore the F.J. King through 3D virtual reality tours using an Oculus VR headset.

At the time of its discovery, the F.J. King was the fifth shipwreck Baillod had helped locate in three years. 

Upper Lone Tree Farm in Brooklyn, Wis. and an expanded listing for Milwaukee's Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Complex was also placed on the National Register of Historic Places this week.