Lake Erie wrecks become big business

Eric Guerrein and Neil Lundell have seen the submerged pieces of Lake Erie history up close.

There's the Charles Foster, a three-masted schooner-turned-barge that sank in December 1900 just north of Walnut Creek. Then there's the Dean Richmond, a steamer that went down in a violent storm in 1893 and is now buried upside down in 110 feet of water off of North East. Not far from that wreck is the S.K. Martin, a coal ship that sank during a storm in 1912. Today the vessel lies in about 58 feet of water.

And, finally, there's the Indiana, which also went down near North East, in 1870. It was carrying a load of paving stone from Buffalo to Cleveland when it sank. Today, the wrecks represent a part of Lake Erie's maritime past -- and a business opportunity for many residents....[Go Erie.com]