Extremely Rare Shipwreck Unearthed Beneath Boston Streets

Popular Mechanics ^ | May 27, 2016 | Michael Sebastian

[ConservativeStatement]

A construction crew in Boston stumbled upon an "incredibly rare" find beneath the city's street: a 19th-century shipwreck.

"Nothing like this has been found in Boston, in filled-in ground, before," City of Boston archeologist Joe Bagley said. "This is incredibly rare and incredibly amazing."

The ship is a wooden sloop that's at least 50 feet long, according to CBS News, dating to the mid-to-late 1800s. It was discovered last week about 25 feet below grade during construction on a new office building. But Bagley, according to the Boston Globe, said the ship could be even older.

[Robert DeLong]

[Pelham]

bump

[Hildy]

wow

[MNDude]

Reminds me of Goonies!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

It’s a real treasure trove...”Among the remnants pulled from the ship are a 19th-century fork, a lime-barrel lid, and hemp fiber.”

Cool, nevertheless.

[bramps]

Was the captain’s name Kennedy?

[21twelve]

I seem to recall that they would take old ships, fill them with rocks and sink them as seawalls. (One man’s trash is another man’s treasure). I hope they can excavate it and study it quickly so it doesn’t delay the builder too much.

[JennysCool]

Unearthed shipwreck ping!

[Calvin Locke]

During the "Big Dig", they shut down construction for some period of time (day(s), week(s)?) because workers found the remnants of a colonial-era latrine.

I think archeologists recovered stuff such as broken pottery shards, nothing worth the million dollar-plus shutdown costs.

[TXnMA]

Heads Up!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

San Francisco from Montgomery Street to today’s waterfront is all landfill — most of it on top of abandoned ships. Ships arrived in the 1850s and everybody took off for the gold fields. There were no crews left for the return-trip.

[Uhhh]

the hard hats and vests for construction or archeology?

[smalltownslick]

Where?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks TXnMA.

[gigster]

My buddy and I used to make shipwreck furniture out of ship’s timbers that we salvaged out of Lake Michigan, up in northern Michigan, in Charlevoix, near Petoskey. It is beautiful white oak, and is very sturdy. He still makes it to this day.

[Sacajaweau]

Imagine the builders face when he got the call....and the language.........

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks JennysCool!

[SunkenCiv]

[bert]

nothing ruins a project superintendents day like digging up a ship in the job site basement