Where was it: Chickenbone Reef

[Detroitnerd]

I've seen various stories about a "Chickenbone Reef" in the Detroit River. One account described it as being off the foot of Randolph. Another, off the foot of Townsend. It was said to be a bar made of accumulated trash being tossed in. Earliest reference I can find is to the one off the foot of Randolph, in 1894.

[jcole]

From the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority Annual Report 2002

CHICKEN BONE REEF" STUDY The DWCPA successfully secured authorization, through the Water ResourceDevelopment Act [[WRDA) for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a100% federally funded reconnaissance study of "Chicken Bone Reef," a ridge of silt build-up in the Detroit River. The "reef' stretches roughly from Joe Louis Arena to Hart Plaza, and has been identified as a navigation hazard, by the Coast Guard, and many others, for visiting vessels of interest that seek to dock along the downtown Detroit Riverfront.Reconnaissance work included an environmental survey. This study has takenapproximately one year to complete, and will result in recommendations towardenhancing navigation into the area.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/M...03_62788_7.pdf

[jcole]

Also, from the Great Lakes Echo:

In 1984, divers recovered the first cannon from a ridge called “Chicken Bone Reef” in the Detroit River just offshore from Cobo Hall. Others were found in 1984 and 1987. A Detroit police diving team discovered the sixth during a 2011 training exercise in the same location.

http://greatlakesecho.org/2015/04/13...cal-mysteries/

[ndavies]

It can be seen on this NOAA map. Most of the river along the shore is 20 to 24 foot deep. There's a bar of 16-18 foot in depth along side Cobo.

http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/14848.shtml

Most of the rest of the channel there is 35-45 foot deep.

[old guy]

I was hoping there'd be more info on this thread. "Chickenbone Reef" There has to be some interesting history about this.

[BillyBBrew]

I'd always heard it was called that because it was off the D&C docks and supposedly galley scraps and other things were thrown over the side there. However, in reality, it's further out in the river than where that would happen, so I think it's just legend.

[Detroitnerd]

I'd always heard it was called that because it was off the D&C docks and supposedly galley scraps and other things were thrown over the side there. However, in reality, it's further out in the river than where that would happen, so I think it's just legend.

Maybe it was unsubstantiated lore was grist for the name of the actual bar. Some articles from about 100 years ago and more described it as further east. Here's one piece that places "Chickenbone Reef" at the foot of Townsend Street, though it does seem to take lore with a grain of salt:

http://discoverfunhistory.webs.com/yantic.pdf

Stories- both factual and fictional- swirled around the Yantic’s masts like the Great Lakeswinds and the ocean storms that she battled, including the report that she had originallybeen designed to be the yacht of Abraham Lincoln and the slightly demeaning story of“Chickenbone Reef” in the Detroit River.Tradition has it that after her thousands of Great Lakes training cruises, the Yantic sojournedso long and faithfully at her dock at the foot of Townsend Street in Detroit thatdecades of garbage dumping created a bar alongside her hull. Newspapers and marinerspromptly dubbed the bar “Chickenbone Reef.”

But another bit from UD-Mercy seems to say it was nearer Woodward Avenue.

http://research.udmercy.edu/find/spe...sNum&start=100

OLD TIMERS ABOUT THE GREAT LAKES ALL TALKED ABOUT "CHICKEN BONE
REEF," BUT NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN IT, AND NO CHART SHOWED IT; BUT
ANY SAILOR WOULD TELL YOU THAT IT WAS IN THE DETROIT RIVER JUST
OFF WOODWARD AVENUE. IT WAS HERE THAT THE GOVERNMENT REVENUE
CUTTER "FESSENDON" AND THE NAVY GUNBOAT "MICHIGAN" AND OTHERS
USED TO ANCHOR FOR LONG TIMES. ORDINARY MERCHANT SAILORS CLAIMED
THAT "CHICKEN BONE REEF" WAS BUILT UP FROM THE RIVER BOTTOM BY
ALL THE CHICKEN BONES THAT WERE THROWN OVERBOARD FROM THE TABLES
OF THE SHIPS ANCHORED THERE.

[jcole]

As I posted above from the Port Authority Annual Report in 2002:

"Chicken Bone Reef," a ridge of silt build-up in the Detroit River.The "reef' stretches roughly from Joe Louis Arena to Hart Plaza, and has been identified as a navigation hazard, by the Coast Guard, and many others, for visiting vessels of interest that seek to dock along the downtown Detroit Riverfront.