Erected by Wisconsin Historical Society, UW Sea Grant Institute,
Wisconsin Coastal Management Program
Two Rivers, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin
44° 8.998′ N, 87° 33.403′ W
Google Map
Wisconsin's Maritime Trails
Historic Shopwreck
Schooner Rouse Simmons
Type: Wooden schooner, three-masted
Built: 1868, Allen McClelland and Company, Milwaukee
Sank: November 23, 1912
Length: 124’ Beam: 27’
Cargo: Lumber, wood products, Christmas trees
Depth of Wreckage: 165’
Lives lost: 16
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
About 12 miles northeast of this spot, 165 feet below the waves, lies one of the most celebrated shipwrecks in Lake Michigan. The three-masted Rouse Simmons spent her career like many lumber schooners of her day, hauling forest products from isolated towns on Lake Michigan to the hungry markets of Milwaukee and Chicago. She disappeared one late November day with a special cargo in her hold, and ever since she has been fondly remembered as the “Christmas Tree Ship.”
On November 22, 1912, the Rouse Simmons departed Thompson, Mich., with her annual load of Christmas pines and firs. Two captains (each one-eighth owners) shared command of the vessel, Herman Scheunemann and Charles Nelson. Scheunemann intended to sell trees in Chicago, from the ship’s deck directly to his customers, as he had done from several vessels for 20 years.
On her second day out, the Rouse Simmons encountered a northwest gale. She was spotted flying a distress flag at about 3:00 p.m., as she passed Kewaunee Life-Saving Station. The station telephoned the life saving crew in Two Rivers, who set out to help the struggling vessel. However, by the time the crew rounded Two Rivers Point (now Rawley Point), the Rouse Simmons was nowhere to be seen. She was lost without a trace.
For many years afterwards, Christmas trees from the “ghost ship” washed up along this beach. The Rouse Simmons was discovered by divers in 1971. She is celebrated today in songs, stories, and plays, her myth and mystery growing with the passing years.
The marker is located near the Lake Michigan shoreline in Neshotah Park, on northbound Zlatnik Drive, between 18th Street (to the south) and Pierce Street (to the north), Two Rivers, Wisconsin 54241.
Wisconsin Shipwrecks: The Rouse Simmons (on YouTube)
The Christmas Tree Ship: Captain Herman E. Schuenemann and the Schooner Rouse Simmons, by Glenn V. Longacre
Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel: "Christmas tree ship" went down on the lake 100 years ago (December 1, 2012)
The Christmas Tree Ship
Great Lakes Monitoring: The Fate of the Christmas Tree Ship
National Register of Historic Places: Wisconsin
This marker is included in the Wisconsin Historical Society's Maritime Trails.
See also related marker, Christmas Tree Ship Point, in Algoma, Kewaunee County.
Not sure if it's sand or snow (or a combination of both),
but the mound behind the marker isn't there during the
annual kite festival . . .
This painting of the Christmas Tree Schooner
is located at the Kewaunee County Jail and Museum
WisconsinHistoricalMarkers