Author: T. H. Hargrove

Publisher:

Published: 1984

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13:

During the conduct of maintenance dredging in the Carolina Beach Inlet channel in the fall of 1983, the dredge Merritt, operated by the United States Army Engineer District, Wilmington, struck an obstruction. In order to locate the obstruction and other cultural material within the confines of the new channel, a proton precession magnetometer survey was carried out by the Wilmington District in December 1983. Archaeologists from Tidewater Atlantic Research carried out an investigation that identified the obstruction as the remains of a mid-nineteenth century iron-hull steamship on January 10, 1984. An amendment to the work order issued on January 31, 1984, extended the investigation to include examination of the remaining anomalies on February 9-10, 1984. Although additional investigation failed to identify the sources of two of the anomalies, the survey identified the remains of a second mid-nineteenth century iron-hull steamer and confirmed that modern debris was at least in part responsible for the remaining target signature.