page_title: Amboy and George Spencer Shipwreck Sites
section_title: History of the George Spencer
hierarchical_section_title: Amboy and George Spencer Shipwreck Sites / History of the George Spencer
caption_attribution_description: English: The steamer George Spencer in dry dock
context_page_description: The Amboy and George Spencer Shipwreck Site is an archeological shipwreck site which consists of the wrecks of the wooden bulk freighter George Spencer and the wooden schooner-barge Amboy. Both vessels were wrecked during the Mataafa Storm of 1905. In 1994 the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
context_section_description: The George Spencer (Official number 85849) was built in 1884 by the Thomas Quayle & Sons Shipyard in Cleveland, Ohio. She was built for Thomas Wilson of Cleveland, Ohio. She had an overall length of 242 feet (74 m), she was 230 feet (70 m) long between her perpendiculars, her beam was 37 feet (11 m) wide and her cargo hold was 20 feet (6.1 m) deep. She was powered by a 625-horsepower fore and aft compound engine which was fueled by a coal burning Scotch marine boiler. She had a gross tonnage of 1360.75 tons and a net tonnage of 1082.79 tons. She was used to haul bulk cargoes such as iron ore, coal and grain. She was also one of the first vessels to load iron ore in Two Harbors, Minnesota when the port opened in 1884.
  In 1888 the Spencer was sold to B.L. Pennington (Lockwood Taylor & Company). In 1889 the Spencer was transferred Lockwood Taylor Hardware Company (2/3) and B. F. Powers (1/3). In 1895 she was transferred to the Commercial Transit Company. In 1899 the Spencer was sold to the Tonawanda Iron & Steel Company of Tonawanda, New York. On September 9, 1901, the Spencer was sailing down the west channel of the Niagara River when she grounded at the head of Little Island. When she was freed  she was towed by the tugs that freed her to a dock. The 1,400 tons of iron ore that was in the Spencer's cargo hold was consigned to the Tonawanda Iron & Steel Plant. The Spencer's grounding was caused by low water levels in the river.
caption: The George Spencer in dry dock
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