They Were Doing Routine Construction Work on the Highway. Then, an ‘Incredible’ Find

A construction crew doing routine roadwork in a Florida city have made a decidedly unroutine find. FOX 35 and 10 Tampa Bay report that workers with the state’s Department of Transportation were recently working on a stretch of road near the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, the continuation of a $42 million drainage improvement project, when they stumbled upon something that no one expected: an almost intact ship that archaeologists believe to be from the mid- to late 1800s. “It was encapsulated in soil and mud, so there was no air contact for it to decay,” Greg Evans, the FDOT District 2 secretary, tells FOX 35. “It’s truly an incredible find.”

“We believe the vessel to be a small, single-masted, shallow-draft sailing craft … that was likely used to extract fish and shellfish from coastal waterways and directly offshore,” says Dr. James Delgado of the archaeology firm SEARCH, which led the excavation process. It took five days using water with controlled pressure to get through the mud and extract the boat, which Delgado describes as a “very humble but important little watercraft,” per the Guardian. “The first moment of seeing [a] little bit to seeing it systematically exposed as we worked through the different layers was … fascinating, because you’re the first eyes to see this,” Delgado notes.

On top of the 20-foot wreck, which was buried under 8 to 10 feet of sediment, workers found various preserved artifacts, including a leather shoe, coins (including one dated 1869), part of an oil-fueled lantern, and coconut halves, which were likely used for drinking, FDOT archaeologist Ian Pawn tells Newsweek. Pawn notes that the vessel was meticulously taken apart “plank by plank” and placed in wet storage to keep the wood from decaying. “We will be working closely with archaeologists and the city of St. Augustine to find a permanent home for this unique find,” he says. (Read more shipwreck stories.)