Ohio Shipwreck Inventory

As a Great Lake state, Ohio has 312 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie. It is estimated that over 2,000 ships have been lost in Lake Erie; nearly 600 are believed to be in Ohio waters.

To help document Ohio’s maritime heritage, the State Historic Preservation Office created an inventory form that focuses on the specific details of a ship’s character. The goal is to establish a detailed inventory of all shipwrecks under the state of Ohio jurisdiction. The resulting information will be used as a cultural resource management planning tool for the identification, location, evaluation, nomination, and protection of these vessels.