The Toledo was a steamship that was built for the freight and passenger trade in the upper lakes area. It was commissioned by Charles H. Lee and Associates in 1854 and taken over by the American Transportation Company in 1855. The Toledo was part of the fleet that included ten other ships.

The fleet was a combination of freight and passenger steamers which originally transported European immigrants traveling to Wisconsin and Minnesota.

On October 22, 1856, on her way to Chicago, the Toledo docked at Port Washington, WI. While some of the passengers ended their journey there and disembarked, an estimate of 80 passengers stayed on board. The ship took on a load of cordwood intended for fuel and prepared for departure. Once offshore, the Toledo was struck by strong gale force winds, forcing it back towards the shore. The ship used all of its power to counteract the winds and attempted to anchor to no avail.

Despite the Toledo's best efforts, she struck bottom with tremendous force and quickly pounded to pieces by the massive rolling waves. Only two passengers survived the onslaught.

Years later, in 1900, the anchor was recovered by Delos Smith's fishing tug and placed in Union Cemetery in Port Washington where it lies today as a memorial to the lives lost in the Niagara (September) and Toledo (October) tragedies that



year.

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Coal Dock Park Prairie Restoration
The Northerner
In Loving Memory
Lake Michigan Habitat
They Had To Go A Fishin'
The Art of Commercial Fishing
Those That Fished
A Lakefront in Transition
Those That Fished
Of Valor and Sorrow

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