Ghostbusters: The Wisconsin Historical Society's Search for Lake Michigan’s Vanished Ghost Ports

Wisconsin's Lake Michigan shoreline – from Kenosha to Rock Island – is characterized by bustling port cities separated by long stretches of secluded, bucolic coast. But these quiet shorelines bely the history that happened here. You may never have heard of Amsterdam or Linzville or Two Creeks, but these communities and many more that dotted the lakeshore facilitated the initial growth of Wisconsin’s timber products and stone quarrying industries and the state’s eventual transition to agriculture. Although you won’t find Grimm’s Pier or Nordheim or Appleport on today’s maps, the submerged remnants of many of these “ghost ports” are still visible to paddlers, swimmers, snorkelers, and divers. Archaeologists with the Wisconsin Historical Society have spent the last several years recording the remains of these vanished towns as part of the Wisconsin Lost Coastal Community Project. Come learn what history lies beneath Lake Michigan’s nearshore waters and how you too can swim or paddle your

All Ages