MOUNT DESERT ISLAND, Maine — Twice a day, 365 days a year for more than 60 years, the tide has come in and then drained out again, washing mud, brine and small aquatic life forms over its timbers.
Exactly how long the ship’s skeleton has been lying in the mud along this hidden section of MDI’s shoreline is unknown, but this past week a group of people have been making the short trek through the woods from the road each day to learn what they can about it. Led by marine archaeologist Franklin Price, who grew up in the Tremont village of Bernard, about 20 people have been measuring and diagramming its decayed ribs and keel.
At the request of Acadia National Park, which has an easement along the shoreline where the wreck rests, its location is not being disclosed by the Bangor Daily News in order to help prevent people from tampering with the site.
On Saturday, seven people, including four young interns, were taking photographs and measurements of the timbers under the hot sun. As they drew and diagrammed the pieces protruding from the mud, they discussed how they likely were fastened together.
“I don’t know what happened here,” Price told Christa Shere, a College of the Atlantic student interning on the project. “I don’t know if these two pieces were actually in this side when this thing flipped over and broke and fell probably this way.”
Price and Shere had mud caked on their knees, shins and hands as they crouched on the timbers and tried to determine what had happened.
Price works as a senior archaeologist for the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research and, for the past two summers, has spent a week of vacation on his native MDI directing the excavation of the wreck of the ship, the name of which is unknown. The project has been funded by the National Park Service and the Institute of Maritime History, based in Kensington, Md.
Price said the ship skeleton has been where it is for as long as he can remember and that, based on stories told by people older than him, he estimates it has been there for at least 65 years.
Price said he doubts the ship ended up where it is by accident. The surrounding cove, like many others in Maine, used to have small, commercial operations such as shipbuilding and brick making on its banks. The ship probably was used to carry cargo such as lumber, bricks and coal, he said, and was scuttled where it is on purpose.
Not much of the ship, the keel of which was at least 50 feet long, remains. Aside from the timbers, there are old fasteners such as treenails — wooden pegs — and some square iron fasteners, most of which Price said are “completely rusted away.” He said the ship was “heavily built,” likely in the late 1800s.
There’s no sign of any engine or other means of propulsion discernible among the timbers, according to Price. There are no other artifacts, such as personal items, that might be found on a ship that crashed accidentally against the shore. There’s not even any decking or other ship parts, other than the ribs, keel and associated fasteners.
“She’s been stripped largely clean,” he said.
Rebecca Cole-Will, cultural resources program manager for Acadia, was one of the volunteers getting muddy Saturday at the wreck site. She said the park is always interested in understanding and protecting its historical resources, such as the shipwreck. The park will get diagrams and perhaps a model of what the ship looked like when it was in business, she said. The project also is a great way to provide outreach to volunteers, she said, and to promote scientific research in the park.
“This is a great opportunity to do that,” Cole-Will said.
Kate Pontbriand, who just graduated from MDI High School and plans to attend Franklin Pierce University in the fall, has been one of the park’s interns on the excavation. She said she enjoys playing in the mud, but also hopes to become an archaeologist.
“I really like the cultural side of [national] parks,” she said. “I love the past.”
Shere said that she too is interested in archaeology. The COA student said that the ability to intern on the project is a great opportunity for young people to learn about maritime history and excavations.
“It’s really nice [Price] opened [the project] up to undergraduate students,” she said. “It helps open the field to people who are interested in pursuing it.”
Follow BDN reporter Bill Trotter on Twitter at @billtrotter.
Interesting story. Lying/laying error in second paragraph a bit distracting.
Typical editorial error from BDN, like their use of “gone missing”.
Seriously? Just enjoy the story or get outside and enjoy the weather if it irritates you…yeesh…by the way, that period should go inside the quotation mark.
Where do people get off not being perfect? I wish you were a writer MacIntyre, then none of us would have to suffer the burden of minor distractions.
ps. If I were you I’d feel amazing for highlighting this small typographical error. You got’em, you got’em big guy! You sir must be a scholarly person, a learned sage of men.
Ask Ralph Stanley, but you will need to tell him where it is.
Good chance he already knows.
Not disclosing it’s location so people don’t tamper with the sight? Except for the few already playing with it, who really cares?
You obviously don’t know how much money can be made off of items found in the debris of ship wrecks. Go spend some time on google, then you will realize why a lot of people would care. On a side note tho, if you don’t know where this is, you aren’t a real local.
He/she didn’t say they were local.
Thank you captain obvious. The use of the term “On a side note” generally means you are talking about something off the topic you had previously been covering.
I lived in Bar Harbor for 18 years, then moved to another Hancock county town. Never left the area really. I am a real local, I have no idea where it is. I think its funny when people refer “real locals,” as if everybody knows everything about the town, just by living there. Wish I did know though, it would be cool to see.
Well Dex, if you grew up here like I did you would know exactly where it is. It’s no big secret to us locals! Anything of any value was take decades ago. You are welcome to the rotting timbers that are left!
I admit, it’s a good learning experience for the children, but that’s it.
Of course I know where it is ;-)
65 years ago (hell 20 years ago!) they drove used up old wrecks on the beach and left them or burned them.
It’s most likely and old sardine carrier. This is nearly as exciting as a Scooby Doo mystery.
It entertains the children, though. And from that other story, they find school less than challenging as it is.
Captain Morgans ship.
News Flash! There are places called museums where everybody can see things found from long ago! Really, they exist! Next time you go by a building with the word “museum” on the front, stop in. And then, to try out your theory, stop into a “collector’s” house, ring the bell and ask to see their valuables.
You are sadly mistaken. 99.9% of artifacts never see the light of day. I have a degree in Archaeology and can tell you first hand that the universities keep the finds. Most museum collections come from “collectors”
Of course they don’t. How much room to exhibit do you think there is in this country? Even the Smithsonian has larger backrooms than exhibits. In storage, you can crowd the objects together and take them out when you need to study them. You also have things for rotation so that the exhibits aren’t static. If you think a museum should exhibit most of its stuff at any one time, you have zero idea what goes on in a museum. You are part of the “If I can’t turn it into cash right now, it is useless” crowd? At least they are available for study if kept in a museum.
And if you think a collector who pays thieves to rip things out of the ground for sale helps anybody but himself, you are pretty naive.
I never mentioned museums, that was your lead. More artifacts have been lost to development than “thieves” All I’m saying is I would rather see artifacts recovered and preserved (by thieves, collectors or museums). How much study needs to be done on a 65 year old piece of trash that is not historically significant? We’re not talking about pre-historic sites or artifacts (which should not be looted and are federally protected)
On a side note, most significant Egyptian, Roman & Native American artifacts now on public display are there thanks to “looters”.
You say you don’t mention museums, true, but what the heck do you call the exhibit spaces that universities have? Are you trying to say everything, 100% is locked up in store rooms? Then we are talking museum. What exactly did you mean then, when you wrote that “…can tell you first hand that the universities keep the finds.” Where do they keep them? I said some are on exhibit, and the rest are used to rotate exhibits and for study.
And can you prove that “most significant Egyptian, Roman & Native American artifacts now on public display are there thanks to “looters”. That is not true, the majority are not looted, and the ones that are looted rarely tell any story and so are not usually significant. Many are from an era when countries and universities sponsored digs and kept the goods they found. They also used the digs to learn about the past. Looters destroy things they can’t sell and take everything out of context. Added to that, any artifact found to be looted goes back to the country of origin.
What kind of archeologist are you who would prefer that looters get the stuff rather than have them around for everybody to study?
“Oh wow Honey, can we go see the rotting timbers?”
Extend your mind a wee bit and see what use this might have. Yes, it was probably plundered for years, but why do you think there is nothing left to learn? How about this wreck is a good outdoor lab for those young people to learn. If you knew that 10 people from FL spent several hundred bucks each coming up to Maine from Florida, would that change your mind? There are a lot of people who see everything in isolation rather than seeing it as part of a bigger picture. It isn’t always about finding Tut’s tomb.
I’m very surprised by some of the extremely negative comments related to this article… some people mocking the finding of a ship wreck and claiming that no one is interested in “old timbers” and other like-comments. Personally I think this is a fascinating find and I hope they are very careful excavating every piece. I can totally appreciate all historical items… from coins to houses to ships, they’ve all got an interesting story or two to be told – maybe there’s a story in what happened and how they came to be where they are and how they have survived the test of time and so much more.
Is it really a ship wreck if it was abandoned there like so many other ships throughout the the end age of of sail?
Maybe not… but that’s not really relevant now is it? The age of the vessel is what intrigues me. I would find it fascinating and worthy of interest if they found plant fossils and obviously it didn’t take a wreck for them to get there. My point is that stumbling upon something possibly historic, regardless of how it got there, is interesting TO ME…
It’s okay if you or others don’t feel the same way, however, if it’s not interesting to you or others why comment at all? There isn’t any logical reason whatsoever for anyone to post negative comments about other people who who find this article interesting. Those who do not find it interesting should simply move along until they find an article that does interest them. THAT is my point… I understand heated political debates but arguing over whether or not this article is interesting is, at best, childish.
Anyone remember the huge old ships that rotted away next to the rte one bridge in Wiscasset? Sat there for decades.
I remember it, from my young days when my parents would go up the coast for a Sunday drive and later when I had to be in the area for business.
But it has been over 30 years since I’ve been in the area and am sure that it probably is pretty well gone.
The Hesper and the Luther Little. I remember seeing them for years as we drove by. My grandmother always told me about when she was a school girl and they’d have field trips to go to them, except then they got to go inside them. They were removed some time ago because they were collapsing.
I know just where it is. The people who were working the site parked their cars right on a bad curve. Not too bright!!
The Park has an easement in this area??? Where on MDI do they not have an easement?? They will not be happy until they own the whole damn Island.