Mother Discovers Historic Shipwreck at Lake Superior

A mother recently spent a day at the beach with her 9-year-old son when they came across something fascinating—a century-old shipwreck.

Hannah Damon, who oversees outreach and administration at Camp Amnicon Adventures and Retreats in South Range, Wisconsin, stumbled upon this discovery while enjoying time on the camp’s sandy shores.

The shipwreck in question is the A.H. Pitz, a steam-powered tugboat built in 1923 and abandoned in 1951.

Interestingly, while Damon had been aware of the sunken vessel for some time, she had never actually seen it until the unusually clear water revealed its remnants.

“We started seeing beams and cables and this massive pipe, and it was like, wait a minute, this is a shipwreck,” she recalled, her excitement palpable.

Quickly, she dashed back to fetch her camera, reminding her son not to splash around too much as she wanted to capture this thrilling moment.

In the video she recorded, the remains of the tugboat can be seen beneath the clear waters, showcasing weathered beams and debris at the lakebed.

Damon described the water as “crystal clear” and glassy, which is quite a rarity for that stretch of Lake Superior.

The area is part of the Lake Superior clay plain, where the soil mainly consists of clay, often rendering the water murky and hiding underwater objects.

She noted that the wreck is generally completely submerged and difficult to spot. Just the day before, she had been at the beach, and while the water was calm, it was murky again.

“I hope it’s one of those things that, if you know where to look, you might catch a glimpse every now and then. But this is definitely a rare find,” she expressed, enthusiasm in her voice.

Built in 1923 for the McMullen and Pitz Construction Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, the A.H. Pitz was named after Armond Pitz and changed hands multiple times before being abandoned at the mouth of the Amnicon River in 1951. Damon mentioned that she had heard it was intentionally sunk to help stabilize a sandbar along the coast.

Having swum in this area for over a decade, she was amazed that she had never before seen the shipwreck. “It was really exciting to find it, to come across it, and I just couldn’t wait to share it with everyone,” she said.

She later shared footage on social media, prompting others to recount their own memories of the tugboat. “It was probably the closest thing to ‘viral’ that Camp Amnicon has ever experienced,” Damon commented.

Responses to her post have sparked connections among community members over this shared piece of local history. “I think that’s what’s cool about archaeology and history—it can really bring us together,” she concluded.