Lillie Parsons

Purchase Guide: Lillie Parsons Diver’s Guide

Dive Notes

• Bring a light to see under the wreck.
• Prepare for strong currents (2-3 knots).
• Follow the anchor chain to the wreck.
• Lillie Parsons lies upside down – penetration is possible but not recommended for novice divers.
• The wreck lies between 40 and 50 feet with wreckage extending to 90 feet.
• Visibility is 8 to 12 feet.
• Entry is down a gradual, rocky slope.
• As with all wrecks in Ontario, the Lillie Parsons is property of The Province of Ontario and removal of any material is illegal. this is edit

The Lillie Parsons, located of Sparrow Island, is accessible only by boat. From highway 401, follow the signs to the Brockville Museum and down to the wharf. Sparrow Island is located upstream about three kilometres. The island’s facilities are controlled by the Brockville Parks Department. There is no camping in the designated dive area, but picnic tables and outhouses are provided. There is a general use area with overnight camping (fee per tent), outhouses, picnic tables and firewood.

The Lillie Parsons is a 19th Century Great Lakes Centreboard schooner. Built of white oak and rigged fore and aft, she is 131 feet long, with a 500 ton capacity in a 10 foot hold. She carried coal, lumber, wheat, barley, railroad iron and salt, and was sailed by a crew of six. She was launched on September 14, 1868 in Tonawanda, New York. On her last voyage, to Brockville, she hit a rock and took on water due to a cargo shift during a squall. She sank off Sparrow Island, August 5, 1877.