A rare stretch of exceptionally clear water along Wisconsin’s Lake Superior shoreline allowed a local mother and her young son to spot the submerged remains of a century-old steam-powered tugboat. Hannah Damon, director of outreach and administration at Camp Amnicon Adventures and Retreats in South Range, Wisconsin, made the unexpected discovery while spending a day at the beach with her 9-year-old son.
Although Damon had spent ten or eleven consecutive years swimming and working at the same location without ever seeing the vessel, unusual water clarity changed everything. She immediately recognized structural pieces of the wreck, which is locally known as the A.H. Pitz.
History of the A.H. Pitz Tugboat
According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, the A.H. Pitz was built in 1923 for the McMullen and Pitz Construction Company based in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The nearly 70-foot-long vessel was named after Armond Pitz and changed ownership multiple times throughout its operational life before ultimately being abandoned at the mouth of the Amnicon River in 1951. Local lore suggests the boat was intentionally sunk near the shoreline to help stabilize a local sandbar.
For decades, however, the wreck has remained largely hidden from public view. The shoreline near South Range sits within the Lake Superior clay plain, a geographical region characterized by heavy clay soils that frequently keep the lake water murky and obscure objects lying on the lakebed.
An Accidental Discovery and Local Reaction
Damon recalled the exact moment she and her son realized what lay beneath the glassy surface. “We started seeing beams and cables and this massive pipe, and it was like, wait a minute, this is a shipwreck, this is a shipwreck,” she noted. Thrilled by the sight, she rushed back to shore to grab her camera to record video footage of the weathered wooden beams and structural debris resting on the lakebed.
When Damon posted the footage online, it sparked significant local interest, generating what she described as the closest thing to a viral moment Camp Amnicon had ever experienced. Commenters flooded the post with personal memories of the vessel, with some community members recalling seeing parts of the tugboat as far back as 1967.
Just a day after the discovery, Damon returned to the beach and found that shifting currents had already turned the water back to its typical murky state. While sightings of the A.H. Pitz remain exceptionally rare, the brief window of clarity provided a unique connection to Midwestern maritime history.
