After the Tropical Storm Eta in 2020, erosion of the sand dunes on Crescent Beach in Florida revealed parts of a shipwreck from 200 years ago.
The remnants caught the attention of local resident Mark O’Donoghue during his daily beach walks, prompting him to contact Chuck Meide, the Director of the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP) in St. Augustine. The LAMP team immediately engaged in the project, beginning to decipher what this ship was and where it came from.
200-year-old shipwreck. (Photo: Fort Matanzas / Facebook)
The LAMP team believes that the excavated wood may be part of an American merchant vessel from the 1800s.
They further explained: “Over 70% of known historical shipwrecks in Florida are due to merchant ships engaged in coastal trade transporting goods from one coastal port to another along the Atlantic coastline.”
Dating the merchant ship is more complex, but the research team has its deductions. Meide stated: “Everything we see there fits that hypothesis; the wood planks, the timber, the iron fastenings. They look quite similar to other ships from the 1800s that we have seen.“
Thanks to Tropical Storm Eta, we have made this historical discovery. As CNN reported, the storm created high tides with “coastal flooding and beach erosion,” leading to the movement of parts of Crescent Beach and ultimately the discovery of the wreck.
During their research, the LAMP team has believed that these remnants could belong to the ship Caroline Eddy, as Meide told CNN.
In late August 1880, Caroline Eddy left Fernandina for New York carrying a cargo of timber overnight. It then encountered trouble and sank.
