Great Lakes shipwreck commemorated 100 years later
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EAGLE HARBOR -- A remarkable chapter in Great Lakes maritime history will be commemorated Tuesday as the Keweenaw Historical Society marks the 100th anniversary of the wreck of the City of Bangor -- and the extraordinary rescue of its cargo of brand-new automobiles.
The Keweenaw Historical Society will receive a framed original painting by noted Upper Peninsula artist Clyde Mikkola, depicting the dramatic 1926 shipwreck and the unusual operation that followed: salvaging automobiles from a wrecked freighter in the depths of a cold Lake Superior in January.
The City of Bangor was carrying a cargo of new cars from Detroit when it ran aground on a reef near Copper Harbor during a fierce November storm in 1926. The subsequent recovery of the automobiles was an extraordinary event, captured in Mikkola's painting and preserved through historic photographs.
The painting will be presented to the society's maritime chairman, Mark Rowe, and will become part of an effort to preserve and share the story of the City of Bangor and other historic sites throughout the Upper Peninsula.
The Keweenaw Historical Society plans to auction the valuable original artwork to raise funds supporting its continuing historic-preservation efforts. Bids will be accepted through fall 2027.
Before the auction, the painting will be displayed at the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse history building gift shop, where visitors will have an opportunity to see the artwork and learn about the remarkable shipwreck story firsthand.
The painting is also featured on the cover of "Shipwreck and Rescued," an award-winning book by Upper Peninsula author Larry Jorgensen, which tells the story of the City of Bangor, its wreck, and the remarkable rescue of its automobile cargo.
One of the rescued automobiles survives today and is displayed at the lighthouse museum, along with several historic photographs documenting the rescue.
The centennial offers an opportunity to revisit a little-known piece of Great Lakes history: a shipwreck that became notable not simply because a freighter was lost, but because of the extraordinary effort to save its valuable cargo.
The 100th anniversary commemoration, the original Mikkola painting, the surviving automobile and the historic photographs together provide a rare opportunity to experience this dramatic episode of Lake Superior history.