Wreck of the Wooden Paddlewheel Steamer Sebastopol Traditional Cache
Wreck of the Wooden Paddlewheel Steamer Sebastopol
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Size: 
(small)
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This cache that will take you to a special place in Milwaukee’s early history -- the location of the wreck of the wooden paddlewheel steamer Sebastopol. The final cache is a small container and is located along a popular pedestrian trail which makes an easy walk although there are some stairs.
The 234-foot wooden paddlewheel steamer Sebastopol was built in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1854. On her final voyage she departed Buffalo, New York, on 12 September 1855, with a load of passengers who were homesteaders and immigrants bound for Milwaukee and life on the frontier. Additionally, the ship carried 600 tons of general merchandise including nails, buttons, smoking pipes, and sewing needles. The ship plodded her way to the upper Lakes and approached Milwaukee on the night 20 September 1855. Captain Thomas Watts could not make out the lights at the end of Milwaukee’s government pier (a point that no longer exists in current day Milwaukee, but would have been off Jones Island). The captain confused lights of the schooner Rockwell that had gone aground near this spot for the pier. In his confusion, the captain twice circled his ship before coming aground.
A violent storm sprung up before daybreak and broke up the Sebastopol. 88 of the ships’ passengers and crew where forced into the water and either swam to shore or were rescued in small boats. Only 7 passengers drowned or were later lost to exposure. The merchandise that the Sebastopol was carrying washed up on shore along this beach for 3 miles and on occasion still washes up today.
The coordinates of the cache are:
42° 59.205’ N
087° 52.175’ W
From this point, if you look to the southeast toward the cut in the breakwater, the actual wreckage of the paddle steamer Sebastopol is located in 15 feet of water about ¾ of the way to the breakwater. On days when the water is clear within the harbor, it makes a nice site to kayak, explore by snorkel, or with scuba gear.
This cache was placed as a partnership Wisconsin Historical Society, with the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, and Milwaukee County Parks through the National Park Service’s Maritime Heritage Grant. A Geocache Placement Notification Form has been submitted to Milwaukee County Parks. We hope you enjoyed learning about the history of the Sebastopol. To learn more about Wisconsin’s maritime heritage please visit our other geocaches in the Milwaukee area and throughout the state, or visit wisconsinshipwrecks.org and maritimetrails.org!
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