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  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
  • EVENTS
  • LEARN
    • ONLINE STORIES
    • COMMERCE
    • MILITARY TRAINING
    • SHIPWRECKS
    • RECREATION AND TOURISM
  • VISIT
  • SUPPORT US
    • DONATE >
      • CMMFestival ANNUAL APPEAL
      • GENERAL FUND
      • THIRD FRIDAY LECTURES
      • IN MEMORIAM DONATIONS
      • SPONSOR
    • MEMBERSHIP
    • VOLUNTEER
  • News
  • Contact Us
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SHIPWRECKS


Human folly, misfortune or deadly force?

​"There is a quiet horror about the Great Lakes which grows as one revisits them," said Rudyard Kipling. People find the power of the storms on the Great Lakes astouding. More people have lost their lives off Chicago than anywhere else on the Great Lakes. This is due to the large amount of shipping combined with winter gales at the southern most tip of the lake where ships have little room to run in front of storms that gain power over the 300 mile length of the lake. The most frequent shipwrecks were of sailing ships that were blown aground on a lee shore, from an abrupt summer thunderstorm or a winter storm.
Eastland Disaster
Historical Chicago Lighthouses
Lady Elgin
U.S. Life-Saving Stations

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   ​​WPA Mural
   Henry C. Grebe and Co.
​   The Christmas Tree Ships​

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​Chicago Maritime Museum is a 501(C)(3) Nonprofit registered in the US under Tax ID 36-3205719

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