PS Lady Elgin
Lady Elgin at Dock September 7, 1860.
Coordinates: 42°11′00″N 87°39′00″W / 42.18333°N 87.65000°W |
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | Lady Elgin |
| Operator: | Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard |
| Builder: |
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| Completed: | 1851 |
| Fate: | Sunk in collision with schooner Augusta of Oswego September 8, 1860 |
| Notes: | First enrollment issued at Buffalo, New York November 5, 1851 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Sidewheel steamer - passengers and package freight |
| Tonnage: | 1037.70 gross |
| Length: | 252 ft (77 m) |
| Beam: | 32.66 ft (9.95 m) |
| Height: | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Notes: | Wood hull vessel |
Coordinates: 42°11′00″N 87°39′00″W / 42.18333°N 87.65000°W
The PS Lady Elgin was a wooden-hulled sidewheel steamship that sank in Lake Michigan off Highwood, Illinois after she was rammed in a gale by the schooner Augusta in the early hours of September 8, 1860. The passenger manifest was lost with the collision, but the sinking of the Lady Elgin resulted in the loss of about 300 lives in what was called "one of the greatest marine horrors on record." Four years after the disaster, a new rule required sailing vessels to carry running lights. The Lady Elgin disaster remains the greatest loss of life on open water in the history of the Great Lakes.
In 1994, a process began to list the shipwreck on the National Register of Historic Places. After it was determined to be eligible for listing in 1999, the process ended after an objection by the owner, so the shipwreck is not listed on the Register.
The Lady Elgin was built in 1851 in Buffalo, New York, at a cost of $95,000. She was named after the wife of Lord Elgin, Canada's Governor General from 1847 to 1854. During her time, the wooden-hulled sidewheeler was one of the most elegantly appointed passenger ships plying the Great Lakes. Rated a first-class steamer, she was a favorite with the traveling public. Early in her career she ran between Buffalo and Chicago, then later between Chicago and Collingwood, Ontario. For many of her later seasons, she plied the route between Chicago and other Lake Michigan ports and Lake Superior.
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