About

The Rouse Simmons, built in 1868, was one of the last schooners on the Great Lakes. Herman Schuenemann purchased it in 1910 to transport trees from Michigan and Wisconsin to Chicago. On November 22, 1912, the Rouse Simmons sank while carrying a load of Christmas trees from Thompson, Michigan to Chicago, earning it the nickname "The Christmas Tree Ship." The shipwreck became a well-known local story, and Schuenemann's relatives and the town of Thompson have continued to send Christmas trees to Chicago in memory of the shipwreck.

This collection contains photographs of the Rouse Simmons and the family of its captain, newspaper clippings and a list of resources about the shipwreck, and documentation of the modern memory of the shipwreck, including poetry, photo albums of commemorations of the event, and a scrapbook of a musical about the event put on by Gwinn High School.

See the full finding aid here.