![\"02-20-26](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771636751_234_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nA more than 150-year-old Lake Erie mystery has been solved.<\/p>\n
Generations after the Clough\u2019s ill-fated voyage on Lake Erie, the shipwreck was found a few miles from Cleveland. The vessel\u2019s discovery and identification involved more than a decade of research, accompanied by more tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s almost mystical when you start to descend into the Lake Erie water, which is notoriously silty and chilly,\u201d Chris Kraska said of discovering shipwrecks in Lake Erie.<\/p>\n
Kraska, the deputy director of archaeology for the Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE), was part of the dive team that identified the Clough. He said the discovery was surreal.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re seeing something that people haven\u2019t seen for 100, 150 years. And you realize people died on that wreck, 7 out of the 8 people on board,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The 125-foot shipping vessel was classified as a bark, a large ship with a combination of square and schooner sails. On its final 1868 voyage hauling stone across the Great Lakes, it met its fate when the weather turned.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Image from Alpena County George N. Fletcher Library.<\/p>\n
Caption: The\u00a0Jane Bell\u00a0a bark vessel built in 1865 and 138\u2019 long. This would be similar to the\u00a0Clough. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was caught in a sudden storm. Because it\u2019s carrying stone, if the cargo shifts, you\u2019re going to have a lot of problems. We\u2019re pretty sure that\u2019s what happened,\u201d explained Carrie Sowden, the director of archaeology and research and the National Museum for the Great Lakes.<\/p>\n
News clippings from the time period detail the loss of seven crew members, the harrowing survival of the first mate and attempts to locate the missing ship and its crew.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou realize just how tragic some of these wrecks were,\u201d Kraska said.<\/p>\n
The ship was built in Lorain in 1867 and owned by Amherst quarry owner Baxter Clough. According to the Amherst Historical Society, Clough was one of the first to have a direct outlet of his own water by building a dock on the lake and a railroad equipped with steam engines and flats.<\/p>\n
Both the quarry and shipbuilding industries remain proud parts of local history.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are learning more about Great Lakes history and understanding the United States was built out of raw materials that came out of the Great Lakes,\u201d Sowden said.<\/p>\n
She explained the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo will be showcasing that history and the discovery of the Clough in a temporary exhibit.<\/p>\n
CLUE began surveying and working to identify the Clough in 2012. Tragically, the organization\u2019s founder and director, Dave VanZandt, died when he suffered a medical emergency while on the first dive of the Clough shipwreck in 2024.<\/p>\n
![\"credit](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771636751_867_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Photo by Ken Marshall<\/p>\n
CLUE found and director Dave VanZandt<\/p>\n
VanZandt\u2019s team and collaborators said it was bittersweet to proceed with the endeavor, but gratifying to finally identify the shipwreck.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing they can do to help honor him is to complete what he started,\u201d said Sowden.<\/p>\n
After 158 years, the team is also completing the Clough\u2019s voyage.<\/p>\n
CLUE is actively working to explore, research and identify other Lake Erie shipwrecks. Kraska said hundreds have wrecked in the water over the year and many are waiting undiscovered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot to be done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
You can find the temporary CLUE exhibit, highlighting the Clough discovery, until April 16 at the National Museum of the Great Lakes, located at 1701 Front St., Toledo, OH 43605.<\/p>\n
Catherine Ross is the Lorain County reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @CatherineRossTV<\/a>, on Facebook CatherineRossTV<\/a> or email her at Catherine.Ross@wews.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A more than 150-year-old Lake Erie mystery has been solved. Generations after the Clough\u2019s ill-fated voyage on Lake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137,260,19155,56680,56679,13230,55660],"class_list":{"0":"post-119551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-erie","8":"tag-erie","9":"tag-erie-headlines","10":"tag-erie-news","11":"tag-lake-erie","12":"tag-lorain-county","13":"tag-mystery-solved","14":"tag-news-5-cleveland","15":"tag-northeast-ohio-news","16":"tag-shipwreck"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}