A historic find in Old Town Alexandria is turning heads. A large, heavy ship, is being dug out of its damp grave at the site of a new hotel construction project. A sailing ship that dates back to the American Revolutionary War.
It isn’t the first time crews working at this particular site have dug up artifacts, as archaeologists a few months prior found the remains of an 18th century warehouse that may have been Alexandria’s first public building.
Archaeologist Dan Baicy said “It’s very rare. This almost never happens. In 15 years that I’ve done this work, I’ve never run into this kind of preservation in an urban environment where there’s so much disturbance.”
The wood of the ship did not decay because once it was buried, oxygen couldn’t reach it, Baicy added.
Researchers have noted that construction along Alexandria’s waterfront would yield findings, namely sunken ships. Workers in the late 1700s once used the ships as framework for the landfill efforts that were used to extend the city’s waterfront.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine
