The L. Wade Childress ghost ship in Wisconsin is a complete mystery. Finding a ship in Prairie du Chien isn’t all that odd and, all things considered, doesn’t headline the news. The town of about 6,000 sits just north of the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers, along the state’s western edge about 55 miles north of the state line. As Wisconsin’s second-oldest city, it is strategically located as a gateway between the Mississippi and the Great Lakes. So no, boats and ships aren’t rare here – folks have been traveling the waterways here for centuries. But that still doesn’t help explain why a tugboat that sunk in Fort Madison, Iowa – more than 200 miles south of here – sits in a field near a golf course. Read on to learn more about this ghost ship in Wisconsin.

Prairie du Chien is located approximately 2 hours west of Madison right at the Iowa border.
Flickr/TonyWebster
Prairie du Chien has a long history tied to all the water surrounding it, but there doesn't seem to be anyone that can explain how this old Wisconsin town came to be home to a tugboat that sank in 1985 and now sits "on the hard" and abandoned.
This ship is the L. Wade Childress, a 176-foot boat used as a push boat on the Mississippi River. It was tied up for the winter and got beat by a particularly brutal season of being battered by ice chunks. The boat eventually sank on December 12, 1985, and was raised on March 25, 1986.
Flickr/WisconsinKaasKop
It was an early freeze in 1985, according to a Chicago Tribune news article that mentions the sinking of the L. Wade Childress. A site called TowboatGallery says the boat was then converted to a quarterboat. But that's about the end of the information available about this abandoned ship. It was built in 1948 and there's a persistent rumor that the plan was to turn this ship into a unique bed and breakfast. But by whom and what happened? That's the big question.

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This ship draws urban explorers, who say the lack of a "No Trespassing" sign means it's able to be explored.
YouTube
One of many abandoned places in Wisconsin, the ship is a shell of its former self, with nothing but empty rooms that are rusted and rotting. Most everything inside is untouched from when it sank. The stove is still there, the bathrooms, and even a fuse box.
There's something super eerie about the view from the upper captain's area.
YouTube
It's definitely not difficult to squint a bit and imagine what this tugboat once was, spending 40 years moving up and down the Mississippi River.
Now, it's a ghost ship with no story. It's marooned on land just outside of town, on a country road, near a golf course and in view of the water, but never to sail again.
YouTube
It stands today as a vestige of the past, a relic of a different time and a thoroughly out-of-place ghost ship.

The beached L. Wade Childress ghost ship in Wisconsin is located at 32800 County Road K, Prairie du Chien, WI.

Have you ever been to see this ghost ship in Wisconsin? If so, what did you think? If you know more about this mystery ship, we’d love to hear about it. Let us know in the comments!

While we’re still on the topic of abandoned things, did you know there’s a failed subdivision and ghost neighborhood in Madison?

Likewise, watch this video about this forgotten town in Wisconsin:

 

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