The Weirdest Boats on the Great Lakes

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Whalebacks were a type of ship indigenous to the Great Lakes during the late 1880s and late 1890s. They were invented by Captain Alexander McDougall and revolutionized the way boats on the Great Lakes handled bulk commodities. Unfortunately, their unique design was one of the many factors which led to their discontinuation.

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Works Cited:

DALEY, MATTHEW LAWRENCE. “A VERY SUPERIOR WHALE: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McDougall’s Whalebacks.” The Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 102, no. 3, 2019, pp. 16–27. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26683190.

McDougall, Alexander. "Scrapbook of Alexander McDougall : Whalebacks, gunboats, patents, and rectangular ships 1880-1920."

"A Novel Craft - The Cigar-shaped Boat Now Building in This City," The News Journal, January 24, 1888, Page 3.

"Launch of a Peculiar Craft," Chicago Tribune, June 24, 1888, Page 13.

"The Turtle-Backed Tow Barge," Chicago Tribune, July 6, 1888, Page 6.

"Incorporated - The Certificate of the American Steel Barge Company Filed, Buffalo Courier, January 4, 1889, Page 5.

"Direct from Duluth to Liverpool," Portage Daily Register, June 13, 1891, Page 1.

"The Charles W. Wetmore - The Second Whaleback Steamer in Port," The Montreal Daily Star, June 24, 1891, Page 3.

"A Successful Voyage," The Tacoma Daily Ledger, July 22, 1891, Page 2.

"An Extraordinary - Arrival In the The Mersey," ShipLiverpool Mercury, etc., July 22, 1891, Page 6.

"A Remarkable Steamer," The Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald, August 1, 1891, Page 3.

"Whaleback Gets It - Privilege of Carrying Passengers to the Fair Granted," Chicago Tribune, April 23, 1892, Page 10.

"The Whaleback Wrecked - She is High and Dry on the North Spit at Coos Bay," The San Francisco Examiner, September 9, 1892, Page 3.

"Steamships Carry Thousands," Chicago Tribune, May 29, 1893, Page 3.

"A Big Company's Mortgage," Buffalo Evening News, June 30, 1893, Page 23.

"Rockefeller's Latest - Now Controls The American Steel Barge Company," The Saint Paul Globe, February 16, 1894, Page 8.

"Launching Of the Rockefeller," The Chicago Chronicle, April 26, 1896, Page 4.

"Giant Whaleback Launched - Steel Steamer Alexander McDougall Christened at West Superior," The Inter Ocean, June 26, 1898, Page 4.

"Progress Steamship Co. Buys Steamer Clifton," Buffalo Courier, December 9, 1923, Page 75.