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UnexplainedLast verified

Is the Crescent Beach Wreck the Caroline Eddy?

An open mystery from Crescent Beach, Florida, November 2020. St. Augustine Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP) is the investigating agency. Tips: Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research (report historic shipwreck finds; don't disturb or remove anything), 850-245-6444.

When
Where
Crescent Beach, FloridaSt. Johns County
Investigating
St. Augustine Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP)

The case

Our summary of the public record. The small numbers show where each fact comes from.

In November 2020, Tropical Storm Eta's surf cut into the dunes at Crescent Beach, several miles up A1A from the Flagler County line, and a local resident noticed heavy wooden timbers poking out of the sand. He called the St. Augustine Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP), whose archaeologists recognized the remains of a wooden ship: planking, frames and iron fasteners that looked like other 1800s vessels they'd studied.

LAMP's team and Flagler College students documented the site and collected timber and iron samples, but the wreck stayed where it was. Its construction fit a sturdy American merchant ship hauling basic goods such as lumber, and reports noted some timbers showed burn marks, which may mean it was burned for salvage after it came ashore.

Searching old shipping records, newspaper accounts and an August 1880 entry in the St. Augustine lighthouse keepers' log, LAMP found a strong candidate: the Caroline Eddy, a brig built in Brewer, Maine, in 1862, which left Fernandina with lumber bound for Philadelphia and wrecked in a hurricane at the end of August 1880. LAMP's director has been careful to say there's no way to be certain. It's the best match on paper, not a confirmed identification, so the ship in the Crescent Beach dune is still officially unnamed.

Timeline

  1. The brig Caroline Eddy is built in Brewer, Maine.2

  2. The St. Augustine lighthouse keepers' log notes a wreck about nine miles to the south.1

  3. The Caroline Eddy, carrying lumber from Fernandina toward Philadelphia, is wrecked in a hurricane after being hit by a huge wave shortly after midnight, according to LAMP's research.2

  4. Tropical Storm Eta erodes the dunes at Crescent Beach. A resident spots exposed timbers and alerts LAMP.13

  5. LAMP announces the find as a likely 19th-century American merchant ship, names the Caroline Eddy as a possible candidate, and begins sampling.1

  6. LAMP publishes its research on the Caroline Eddy as the likely identity, while noting it can't be certain.25

Key facts

Each one checked against a source.

  • The wreck was exposed by dune erosion from Tropical Storm Eta in November 2020 and reported to LAMP by a local resident.13
  • Remains include wooden planking, timbers and iron fasteners consistent with 1800s ships.13
  • Construction details (iron bolts, wooden treenails, copper-alloy spikes, timbers measured in inches, heavy stringers) suggest a 19th-century American, Canadian or British-built vessel suited to the lumber trade.2
  • Some timbers showed burn marks, which may mean the vessel was burned for salvage.3
  • LAMP names the 1862 brig Caroline Eddy, lost in an August 1880 hurricane, as the likely identity, but its director says there's no way to be certain.12
  • Timber and iron samples were collected, and the wreck was left in place rather than recovered.1

Open questions

  1. Is the Crescent Beach wreck really the Caroline Eddy, or another 19th-century merchant ship?
  2. Could wood-species or tree-ring results from the samples confirm or rule out a Maine-built hull?
  3. Does the wreck noted in the August 29, 1880 keepers' log match this site?
  4. Why do some timbers show burn marks?

Photos and video

Official releases, public-domain and openly licensed files, credited. Tap a photo to see it larger.

Crescent Beach, Florida, 2019.
Crescent Beach, Florida, 2019.Photo: Mike Steele / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · CC BY
Matanzas Inlet from the air, just south of Crescent Beach and a few miles north of the Flagler County line.
Matanzas Inlet from the air, just south of Crescent Beach and a few miles north of the Flagler County line.Image courtesy of Janet Zimmerman, Florida Inland Navigation District / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 · CC BY

Outside coverage and files

Linked, not copied. These open on the publisher's site.

Sources

Everything in this file comes from these. News coverage is linked, never copied.

Official records

  1. 1Dune Erosion Reveals New Shipwreck at Crescent BeachSt. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum (LAMP), Nov 17, 2020
  2. 2Crescent Beach Shipwreck: The Caroline EddySt. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum (LAMP), Oct 11, 2021
  3. 4Participation: reporting shipwreck discoveriesFlorida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources
  4. 5Crescent Beach Shipwreck: The Caroline Eddy (video)St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, October 2021

News coverage

  1. 3Tropical Storm Eta unearths 19th-century shipwreck on northeast Florida coastNBC News, Nov 23, 2020

Related files

Same county, same state or the same kind of case.

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