Indiana's underwater nature preserves intertwined throughout history, may be followed by more shipwrecks (2024)

MICHIGAN CITY — Northwest Indiana now has the Hoosier State's only two Underwater Nature Preserves around the shipwrecks of the J.D. Marshall and the SS Muskegon.

The two ships, relics of an era in the 19th and early 20th centuries when vessels ferried people and freight across the Great Lakes, shared an intertwined history going back to when they were owned by the same company more than a century ago. The J.D. Marshall and the Muskegon also are two of the 50 shipwrecks in Indiana waters in Lake Michigan.

Fourteen of those shipwrecks have been surveyed. The Indiana University Center for Underwater Science may seek Underwater Nature Preserve status for more shipwreck sites in the future.

It took years of work to get the protective status for the J.D. Marshall and the Muskegon, which was recently dedicated at Millennium Plaza, by where the mouth of Trail Creek opens into of Lake Michigan.

The Muskegon, originally known as the Peerless, served as a passenger ferry, a cargo ship and a floating gambling boat before finally becoming a sandsucker that sucked sand up from the bottom of Lake Michigan to be used in manufacturing and construction, saidSam Haskell, assistant director for IU's Center forUnderwater Science.

The ship suffered a fire after a suspected kerosene spill in Trail Creek in 1910. The Muskegon sandsucking equipment was removed and transferred over to the J.D. Marshall.

About ten months later, the Muskegon was dragged out into Lake Michigan and sunk about 1,000 feet from the Mount Baldy beach.

"Ironically, the J.D. Marshall sunk the very next day right in front of the Indiana Dunes State Park and it's been there ever since," Haskell said. "The J.D. Marshall hit some bad weather and started taking on water. It had been retrofitted in Michigan. The retrofits were more on the machinery and not as much on the hull as they wanted it to be. Then it ended up right in front of the pavilion where the Indiana Dunes State Park is and flipped upside down and had some loss of life."

Four sailors died in one of the worst maritime tragedies in state history.

The connection between the two ships has now stretched more than a century, after the Muskegon followed the J.D. Marshall in being declared an Underwater Nature Preserve.

"It's incredible," Haskell said. "It was the same company, the same equipment, the successorship and now to have them be the two first shipwrecks that are nature preserves in the state of Indiana is just incredible."

More shipwrecks may become Underwater Nature Preserves in the future.

"The next two big candidates are the Wheeler shipwreck around here that a lot of locals have salvaged stuff from and the other would be the Material Surface, a barge out of Hammond," he said. "It's in the Hammond Marina and it's dived pretty regularly by recreational divers. It's actually also on the National Register of Historic Places. It would be another good candidate."

Accessibility and funding would be major concerns.

"It's just not quite as closely affiliated with the state or national parks," Haskell said. "If we were to designate it as a nature preserves, how do we create that access. Without the existing park system, it's hard to prop that up. We'd need more funding. We'd need to look at other grant opportunities to get that going. But we're definitely looking to protect our maritime heritage."

The public can do virtual tours of the existing Underwater Nature Preserve sites on the Indiana Department of Natural Resources website. The IU Center for Underwater Science plans to update and supplement it, including with 3D photometric data.

"We'd love to be able to put people in 3D headsets so they can go on virtual tours of the shipwreck without having actually been on the ship," Haskell said. "We'd like to do further interpretation. Maybe open a new exhibit in the pavilion or the visitor center, just to have complementary land access to make this successful. There are a lot of people who aren't divers. Most people in the world and most visitors to the National Park aren't scuba divers, so to be able to give materials to people who aren't scuba divers and can't access it is one of the most important things we can do."

The key is public access,Indiana University's Center for Underwater Science Director Charles Beeker said.

"By putting the buoys on it, the historic markers on it, the underwater plaque on the site, the interpretative materials, we now have something anyone can visit and appreciate the value of that site. It's quite rewarding," Beekersaid. "The site itself is relatively intact with integrity."

Divers can see the Muskegon's propeller, draft shaft, engine, boilers, firebox, hull and the remnants of the bishop arch.

"If you're into the history, it's an educational dive into the Great Lakes construction," he said. "It's got enough integrity to be on the National Register of Historic Places. That tell you something. We took some beginning divers out there and surveyed them and they said it was phenomenal and a great experience."