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Plank by plank, archaeologists remove 1800's boat from mud under a road in St. Augustine

The fishing boat was well-preserved. The goal is to preserve it, but where it will be kept is unknown.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — How do you take apart a 19th Century boat that's been covered in mud for more than 200 years?   

Very carefully, of course.  

Actually, it's plank by plank. 

Credit: Jessica Clark
The bottom of the boat from the 1800's, after archaeologists unearthed it and cleaned it. It is about 8-feet below the road surface.

At the downtown base of the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, a construction project turned into an archaeological dig Friday, when crew members spotted wood, old wood.

"We just found a boat from the 1800's," Secretary Greg Evans with the Florida Department of Transportation said. Construction stopped and archaeologists were brought in.

"We had  archaeologists on standby because we always find something  in St. Augustine," Evans noted. 

Credit: Jessica Clark
Archaeologists collaborating on how to remove the bottom of the boat from the wet soil.

Wednesday, five days after the discovery, archaeologists with SEARCH, Inc. had unearthed, cleaned, and documented the boat.  The bottom wooden part of the boat almost gleamed in the sunlight. The boat's deck that 19th century fisherman would have stood on had been only a few inches higher than the boat's bottom. The deck had already been removed by archaeologists earlier in the week. 

Wednesday, scientists loosened each plank of the boat's bottom that sat in the wet dirt.  Each was cautiously lifted up, placed on wooden trays, and hoisted out of the 8-foot-deep hole. 

Credit: Jessica Clark
Carefully pulling out each plank from the boat's bottom.

The boat is in amazingly good shape.  Archaeologists say it was likely a sailing vessel because because of evidence that points to place for a mast.  Dr. James Delgado with SEARCH, Inc. said he believes it was locally built.   

"We think the boat may have been abandoned," Evans said, "and over time it was silted-in. That is why it was preserved because it was encapsulated in soil, so there was no air contact for it to decay."  

Archeologists also found artifacts in and around the boat, such as nails and coins. 

Credit: Jessica Clark
This is a portion of a leather shoe found by the boat. The eyelets for the laces as well as a button are visible. It is being preserved in water.

Also among the artifacts: leather shoes.  On one of them, fine stitching is still recognizable as well as eyelets for the laces. 

Other coinage was discovered.  They coins are thicker than most money, which leads some of the archaeologists with SEARCH, Inc. to wonder if they were trolley tokens connected to the trolley station that was near site.

Those items and the boat's craftmanship help date it to the 19th century.

The bow of the boat was well preserved, but the stern seemingly disappears; the wooden boards have only rough edges. Greg Hendryx, an archeologist with SEARCH, Inc. pointed to the bow and said, " I think that was on the mud. This," pointing to the stern, "was in the river. And it just came out and washed away. More than likely."

The artifacts and boat boards were loaded away on a trailer to an undisclosed area for preservation.  What happens to them now? "I don’t’ know!  It’s our first time. we’re gong to work with our archaeological team," Evans said. 

It’s a piece of maritime history that just happens to be under a modern road, near a busy bridge. It's a relic from a time when boats were a common form of transportation. 

    

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