Underwater Archaeology Branch Head Richard Lawrence recently sat down to talk about one of North Carolina’s oldest shipwrecks that will soon get a final home at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras.
The wreckage was hidden under sand and water on the shore of Corolla for centuries, but winds and tides slowly uncovered the shipwreck over the course of a year.
Earlier this month, it was successfully moved to higher ground by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, our own Office of State Archaeology, Corolla Fire and Rescue and volunteers from Currituck County. Officials are now working on plans to move the 12-ton structure by truck more than 90 miles to the museum in Hatteras, one of three North Carolina Maritime Museums in the Department of Cultural Resources Museum of History Division.
Editor's Note -- The remains were removed from the grounds of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in September of 2025. The museum worked with the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the Office of State Archaeology in the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to remove the remains. The timbers were taken to the UAB for storing in their conservation facilities for good stewardship of the vessel.