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Dump Barge (Cleveland)

Ohio waters

  • Cause unknown
  • Lives lost: Unknown

No public position. General area: Just outside Cleveland's east breakwall, near the corner it makes with the Cuyahoga River entrance.

Tucked against the outside of Cleveland's east breakwall near the Cuyahoga River entrance lies an unnamed wooden dump barge about 137 feet long, its eight holds still full of firebricks and stone. A brick stamped by a company founded in 1916 shows she cannot have sunk before then.

The story

Divers call this wreck simply the Dump Barge. It lies outside the east breakwall, in the corner the breakwall makes with the entrance to the Cuyahoga River, on a northeast-southwest line; from what remains, the bow cannot be told from the stern.[1] Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE) list it in about 30 feet of water, with a dive report dated June 18, 2011.[2]

The hull is wooden, about 137 feet long and 28 feet wide, divided into eight evenly spaced holds that still hold her cargo, a mix of firebricks, masonry and stone. Blocks and pipe along the sides relate to the barge's working gear, and the bulkhead at the northeast end is missing.[1]

The bricks scattered around the site have helped narrow down her age. Some carry maker's names: Savage, believed to be Mount Savage of Maryland, which began making firebricks in 1841; Whitacre-Greer of Ohio, founded in 1916; and Green, possibly A.P. Green of Missouri, founded in 1915. Because a Whitacre-Greer brick is on board, the barge cannot have sunk before 1916.[1]

Her name and the circumstances of her loss are still unknown. Given where she lies, Ohio Sea Grant reports a theory that she was working on building or maintaining the breakwalls that protect Cleveland's harbor. The National Museum of the Great Lakes and the Maritime Archaeological Survey Team were continuing research to try to identify her.[1]

Sources differ: No earlier than 1916, the founding year of one of the brick makers whose bricks lie on the site.

Lives lost: Unknown.

Questions people ask

How old is Cleveland's Dump Barge wreck?

She cannot have sunk before 1916: one of the bricks in her cargo was made by Whitacre-Greer, a company founded that year. Her name and age are otherwise unknown.

Where is the Dump Barge?

Just outside Cleveland's east breakwall, near the Cuyahoga River entrance, in about 30 feet of water according to Cleveland Underwater Explorers.

Learn more

Museums and groups are linked for further reading; they are not connected with this site.

Look, don't take

Look, don't take. Shipwrecks and everything on them are protected by law; removing or disturbing anything can be a crime.

  • United States: under the Abandoned Shipwreck Act (43 U.S.C. § 2105) the U.S. claims title to abandoned shipwrecks embedded in a state's submerged lands, or resting on them and eligible for the National Register, and transfers that title to the state.[3][4][5]
  • Ohio: R.C. 1506.32 requires a permit from the Director of Natural Resources, approved by the Ohio History Connection, to recover, alter, salvage or destroy abandoned property on, in or near a submerged watercraft or aircraft in Lake Erie.[6]

How Lake Erie wrecks are protected

Diving Lake Erie wrecks is dangerous: cold water, poor visibility, depth, entanglement and boat traffic. Nothing here is dive guidance or a dive position. Dive only with proper training, a qualified operator and current information from the groups that maintain moorings.

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Sources

  1. Ohio Sea Grant, Shipwrecks & Maritime Tales: Dump Barge, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Accessed .
  2. Welcome to Cleveland Underwater Explorers, Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE). Accessed .
  3. 43 U.S. Code 2105 - Rights of access (Abandoned Shipwreck Act: title to abandoned shipwrecks), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  4. 43 U.S. Code 2101 - Findings (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  5. 43 U.S. Code 2102 - Definitions (Abandoned Shipwreck Act), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of the U.S. Code). Accessed .
  6. Ohio Revised Code 1506.32 - Application for salvage permit for submerged watercraft or aircraft, Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Accessed .

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