When the Mississippi River dropped significantly in the Fall of 2022, the Louisiana Division of Archaeology received numerous calls and emails from citizens stumbling across exposed structures and vessels, some of which turned out to be shipwrecks. The low water levels and the proximity to the Division of Archaeology’s office allowed staff and volunteers to further document the exposed remains of the S.S. Brookhill, a previously recorded archaeological site, before the water rose back to a normal level. The Brookhill in its prime was a double-hulled ferry that operated on the Mississippi River from 1896 to 1915. The local, national, and international news coverage as well as its easy access to visitors created the perfect storm of an exciting opportunity for public archaeology and a target of antiquities theft. This poster focuses on the Brookhill, the recent information collected, and what we learned throughout this process.

In 2019, as part of the Wolf Trap Alternate Placement Site Northern Extension (WTAPSNE) Project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District (USACE) contracted Stell Environmental and SEARCH, Inc. to conduct an underwater investigation testing for the presence of resources eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Utilizing side scan sonar and magnetometry, SEARCH, Inc. documented 10 anomalies that resulted in avoidance measures and an agreement document among USACE, the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office, the Naval History & Heritage Command, and the Mariners’ Museum and Park. Of the encountered anomalies, one was inferred to be the Polynia, a steam yacht later turned into a fishing trawler and coal barge named Tillie. Ongoing archival research into the Polynia and comparisons with other steam yachts attempt to further inform about her design and place her within a historic context.

After their invention during the twentieth century, fiberglass boats grew in popularity due to their quick and long-lasting construction method. Through time these vessels have littered coastlines after natural disasters, leaving them derelict for years resulting in boneyards. While boneyards impede the environment and boat traffic, they also represent past community activity. The significance of these forgotten boats demonstrates itself through local heritage, policy regulation, and transformation of the archaeological landscape. Derelict boneyards impact many locations, including the Florida Panhandle, as it regularly suffers from hurricanes and tropical storms. This research focuses on data collection and site comparison of abandoned modern watercraft past their prime and soon to be part of the historical record.

The schooner Equator was built in 1888 by Californian shipwright Matthew Turner and eventually sailed by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson during his journeys in the South Pacific. Even after those events, the ship went through multiple changes in its design and purpose until the early 20^th century. In present times, the port of Everett kept it as a living testament of the maritime heritage of the city. However, due to the high costs of maintenance and preservation, the vessel will be disassembled, and a salvage archaeological project was required. In order to guarantee the preservation of information, one of the methodologies used was recording with an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for aerial photography and photogrammetry to recreate the ship three-dimensionally. The process, results, and reach of this methodology are presented in this poster.