The Lady Elgin sank within a half hour. Passengers were pitched into the stormy lake and clung to whatever wreckage they could find. many did not know how to swim and there were not enough lifeboats.
It is estimated that around one hundred made it to shore and survived. Many were helped by witnesses on shore.
In the aftermath of the disaster, lawmakers required better lighting and inspections for ships on the Great Lakes.
The Lady Elgin was 252 feet long, had a 32.6 foot beam and was built in 1851 in Buffalo, New York for $95,000. It was one of the most elegantly appointed ships in service on the Great Lakes.
It was placed on the NRHP in 1999.
Officials from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency have expressed interest in an exhibit, but the cost of an exhibit and conservation would be too much, so, for now, the artifacts on the ship remain deep in lake Michigan's waters.
A Ship I Had Never Heard of Before. --Cooter
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