Shipwrecks provide a broad
historical view of trading on the Great Lakes
in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when ships
were the main cargo carriers for isolated ports.
Navigation was made hazardous by the narrow
channels, island shoals and changeable weather.
Within the park’s boundaries are 21 accessible
shipwrecks: schooners, tugs, barges and motor
ships all at varying depths and some visible
from shore. The Arabia, the Tecumseh, the John
Walters, four wooden steam tugs, a passenger/freight
streamer and even a floating restaurant sank
or were stranded. When possible the wreck was
towed to Tobermory Harbour within the present
park’s boundaries where their historical
value is preserved. Fathom Five’s dive
team monitors their condition and location,
currents, silt levels and any deterioration
of remnants or artifacts. With primitive navigational
equipment, early ship captains had to rely mainly
on their wits and experience to get them from
port to port. In the aftermath of the War of
1812, the increasing number of shipwrecks in
the shipping lanes around Georgian Bay spurred
on the development of improved navigational
aids. Several lighthouses have played an essential
role in our marine history. The Cove Island
Light, the oldest lighthouse in the Upper Great
Lakes, was completed in 1858, a 30 metre-high
red and white limestone cylinder known as an
imperial tower, one of six built from stone
quarried mainly at Owen Sound. The site around
Flowerpot Island Light, built in 1897, has been
restored to preserve its significant heritage.
At the Big Tub, a short wooden tower, built
in 1885, marks the entrance to Tobermory Harbour
where settlers once hung lanterns in a tree
to guide the ships away from rocky shoals. Lighthouse
keepers and their assistants lived a life of
hardship and isolation relying on their own
resources and shouldering the responsibility
of providing the light with 24-hour care.
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