Lakeshore Museum Center


UNSOLVED MYSTERIES: THE SHIPWRECK TOMAS HUME
Lakeshore Museum Center – Muskegon, Michigan
March 2010 – November 2011

LvH wrote a successful grant application and the project was funded by the Michigan Humanities Council. This comprehensive project that included a traveling exhibit, documentary film, curriculum guide, public event and book.

Exhibit Synopsis: On May 21, 1891, the lumber schooner Thomas Hume and its crew of seven sailed out of Chicago, into a spring storm, never to be seen again. The vessel’s owners, Charles Hackley and Thomas Hume of Muskegon, Michigan, could not believe the sturdy lumber hooker could be overcome by rough water. The disappearance of the Thomas Hume lingered as one of the great-unsolved mysteries of the Great Lakes. In recent years, it even became fodder for UFO stories on the internet.   More than a century after its disappearance, the discovery of the wreck of the Thomas Hume solved the mystery of its disappearance. However, the collection of shoes, clothing, jewelry, coins, and tools found inside generated even more questions. An archaeological investigation by Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates and the Lakeshore Museum Center attempted to solve the riddles posed by the shipwreck. After survey dives, historical research, and detective-like reasoning, the team pieced together not only the Thomas Hume’s career, but how its crew lived, worked, and died on the lake.

UnsolvedMysteries