St. Peter Lake Schooner Shipwreck
In 1898, the three-masted lake schooner St. Peter sank on a dark and stormy night coming to her final resting place in 110′ of water off Fairbanks Point near Pultneyville, NY.
Captain Griffin set sail for Toledo, Ohio reaching almost to the Niagara River when a fierce storm was encountered.
Griffin tried unsuccessfully to outrun the storm by turning his boat about and running back down the lake in an easterly direction. All hands including Griffin’s wife were lost except for Griffin.
Seventy-three years later, the St.Peter was located by a local scuba diver and from 1971 through 1974 many diving expeditions were completed resulting in retrieval of well preserved artifacts from the schooner. This exhibit, accompanied by an under water videotape of the ship, displays artifacts retrieved from diving expeditions. New York State has designated the Society permanent custodian of St. Peter’s artifacts.
