Qualla: Amboy and George Spencer Shipwreck Sites

Amboy and George Spencer Shipwreck Sites: Introduction

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. For thirteen hours, the crews clung to the disintegrating hulls while November waves pounded the vessels apart. The George Spencer, a wooden bulk freighter built in Cleveland in 1884, and the Amboy, a schooner-barge constructed a decade earlier for Minnesota's iron ore trade, had been traveling together from Buffalo, New York, bound for Duluth with a cargo of coal. On November 28, 1905, the Mataafa Storm -- one of the most destructive tempests in Great Lakes history -- swallowed them both. When it was over, 18 ships lay wrecked or stranded across Lake Superior, and one, the steamer Ira H. Owen, had vanished with all hands. The Spencer and the Amboy, driven ashore on Cook County's North Shore, became a single archaeological site that now sits on the National Register of Historic Places.

Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

Amboy and George Spencer Shipwreck Sites: A Schooner-Barge Called Trouble

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. The Amboy had been cheating fate for decades before the Mataafa Storm caught up with her. Built in 1874 by Quayle & Murphy in Cleveland, Ohio, she was originally christened Helena and designed specifically to haul Minnesota iron ore. In July 1891, the Helena sank in a collision o...

Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

Amboy and George Spencer Shipwreck Sites: The Mataafa Storm Strikes

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. November 28, 1905, began with the Spencer towing the Amboy westward across Lake Superior. When the storm hit, visibility dropped to nothing in blinding snow. Captain Frank Conland of the Spencer and Captain Fred Watson of the Amboy lost their bearings entirely. The crew of the Sp...

Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

Amboy and George Spencer Shipwreck Sites: What the Lake Left Behind

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. The Spencer, valued at $35,000, was judged beyond saving. The Amboy, worth $10,000, fared no better. Much of their hulls were eventually removed, but the lake keeps what it claims on its own schedule. Today the remains of both vessels lie near each other along the shore. The Ambo...

Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

Amboy and George Spencer Shipwreck Sites: A Place on the Register

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. In 1994, the combined wreck site of the George Spencer and the Amboy was added to the National Register of Historic Places, joining a collection of Great Lakes shipwrecks recognized for their archaeological and historical significance. The site tells the story not just of two ves...

Image: Jonathunder | Public domain