Friday Flashback: The Christmas Tree Ships

By Prescott Carlson in Miscellaneous on Dec 5, 2008 10:15PM

Back when Lake Michigan was good for more than catching E. coli, commercial sailing ships made their way across the waters bringing goods to Chicago. But even long after those ships had been replaced in favor of commercial railways, a handful of schooners still set out around Thanksgiving each year from northern Michigan and Wisconsin loaded with evergreen trees -- which of course is why their were dubbed the "Christmas Tree Ships." Besides selling trees wholesale to merchants, the ships would also adorn themselves with lights and sell Christmas trees directly to customers from the Clark Street docks on the Chicago River.

One of the most well-known of these ships is the Rouse Simmons, helmed by Herman Schuenemann, who was affectionately called "Captain Santa" by residents and Chicago newspapers. Unfortunately, the Rouse Simmons name lives on for a tragic reason. On November 23, 1912 -- the ship was 44 years old by that time -- the Rouse Simmons disappeared under the lake's waters near Two Rivers, Wisconsin, taking the entire crew with her. For months afterward, partial Christmas trees washed ashore and were caught up in fishermen's nets. Remarkably, 12 years later fishermen found Schuenemann's waterproof oilskin wallet -- its contents perfectly intact.

The exact cause of why the Rouse Simmons sank is still undetermined. A scuba diver inadvertently discovered the shipwreck in 1971 in 172 feet of water, and the ship was well-preserved. The sinking of the ship marked an even steeper decline of an already slowing industry, and by 1920 the sailing of the Christmas Tree Ships had ended.

Source: The National Archives