Faculty to present steamboat shipwreck survey results

Grand Valley faculty will present their findings March 24 from a recent expedition exploring steamboat shipwrecks on the bottom of Reeds Lake.

The program, sponsored by the Friends of the East Grand Rapids Library, will take place at 7 p.m. in the East Grand Rapids City Commission chambers, located at 750 Lakeside Drive.

Mark Gleason, assistant professor of tourism and hospitality management, and Mark Schwartz, associate professor of anthropology, are leading the collaborative project, which aims to digitally document sunken steamboats in the lake. The goal is to learn more about the naval architecture that went into a steamboat designed for tourism versus a steamboat designed for trade.

The February 20 dive located the wreck of the Steam Ship Hazel A. Some law enforcement and local divers have traveled beneath the water to these shipwrecks in the past, however, Grand Valley’s group is the first academic research team to explore the wrecks.



Despite some technical difficulties with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) during the dive, the team’s sonar unit successfully mapped the wreck, showing that the S.S. Hazel A is in one piece and sitting upright on the bottom of Reeds Lake.

Funded by Grand Valley’s Center for Scholarly and Creative Excellence, the project’s team is also comprised of Matthew Daley, associate professor of history at Grand Valley; David Cummins from the Marine Technology Program at Alpena Community College; and Mary Dersch, curator of the East Grand Rapids History Room, among many others.

During the March 24 presentation, Dersch will provide a history of steamboat excursions on Reeds Lake, which date back to 1882. Descendants of the Poisson family, who pioneered steamboat activity on Reeds Lake, will also be present.

For more information, contact Mark Gleason at (616) 331-8828.