Image Source: The Associated Press
Workers digging at Manhattan’s World Trade Center site unearthed a 50-foot boat dating back to the Revolutionary War, according to The Associated Press. Soon, the boat will be displayed as part of a New York State Museum exhibit.
Researchers said they are unsure how the boat made its way to Manhattan. The vessel may have been a gunboat constructed in 1775 to defend Philadelphia, researchers told the AP. It ended up in a Manhattan landfill in the 1790s, and the vessel was stripped of many of its parts at this time.
“It’s an important piece of history,” said Michael Lucas, New York State Museum’s Curator of Historical Archaeology. “It’s also a nice artifact that you can really build a lot of stories around.”
Over 600 pieces from the boat are being used to rebuild the vessel at the New York State Museum. Each piece underwent a 3D scan and spent time in preservative fluids before being placed in a giant freeze-dryer to remove moisture. From here, each piece was wrapped in more than a mile of foam and shipped to the museum.
The boat’s reconstruction is being completed at a New York State Museum exhibition space. Museum visitors can see the boat being put back together, and the work is expected to be finished soon.
“The public can come and contemplate the mysteries around this ship,” Lucas stated. “Because like anything from the past, we have pieces of information. We don’t have the whole story.”
Those who want to view Revolutionary War artifacts can view over 3,000 such items in the WorthPoint database.
Will Seippel is the founder, president, and CEO of WorthPoint. Will has been an avid collector since 1974 and dealer of just about all things antique—with an emphasis on ephemera— since 1984. He is also the creator and founder of HIP, a website devoted to recording the best of the world’s history that has been saved on film.
WorthPoint—Discover. Value. Preserve.
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