Previously unknown historic shipwrecks found

5 takeaways from Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s annual archeology conference

By Zachary Matson

Underwater archeologists with the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum suspect they have found new evidence of a swinging barge once used to cross a narrow section of Lake Champlain near Fort Ticonderoga and at least one previously-undiscovered shipwreck in the Hudson River.  

Museum staff on Thursday detailed the new findings from their work consulting on the underwater path of a 339-mile transmission from Canada to New York, during its annual online conference.

Museum staff also outlined plans to overhaul its collections and archives management system, build out a sprawling database of shipwreck sites in the region’s largest lake and urged backers to support the museum’s mission amid federal funding uncertainty. 

Here are key takeaways from the museum’s fourth virtual archeology conference: 

Contract work for CHPE power line turns up new wreck sites

Underwater archeologists with the museum identified scores of historic shipwrecks along the path of the Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line, including what appeared to be a previously-undiscovered abandoned barge from the historic Delaware & Hudson Canal resting at the bottom of the Hudson River. 

Related reading: Exploring the depths of Lake George

The museum contracted with developers of the transmission project that plans to connect hydropower sources in Canada to power-hungry New York City. The line will rest at the bottom of Lake Champlain, as well as the Hudson and Harlem rivers as it connects from the border to a converter station in Queens. Construction on the Lake Champlain portion started last year and will continue this summer.  

Museum staff provided its expertise to help engineers route the power line away from any underwater cultural resources, like shipwrecks and historic infrastructure. While many of the cultural sites were previously known, museum staff think they turned up some novel finds.  

“Who knows if anybody even knew that (barge) was at the bottom of the Hudson River,” said Paul Gates, the museum’s co-director of archeology. 

They also identified more details of the old drawboat that provided access across a narrow section of the lake at Larrabee’s Point near Fort Ticonderoga. The wooden barge could swing open for steamboats to pass by. 

“(The CHPE work) enhanced our understanding of some underwater cultural resources and will add to our future work,” Gates said. 

Federal funding uncertainty reins 

Chris Sabick, the museum’s executive director, at the outset of the conference highlighted the new uncertainty surrounding federal funding, which the museum partly relies on. 

Sabick said the funding uncertainty increased the importance for the museum to demonstrate its value to state funders in Vermont and other backers interested in Lake Champlain’s historic maritime legacy. He urged supporters to join as members.

“It’s vitally important if you appreciate and respect what the museum is working toward,” Sabick said. 

Geodatabase in the works

The museum traces its lineage to some of the earliest archeological work on the lake. A long line of researchers on  the lake have uncovered wreck sites and documented their condition. 

Now, the museum hopes to combine historic data with its ongoing research and detailed location to build a comprehensive geodatabase of Lake Champlain shipwrecks.

“For the first time we will be able to put all their work together in one consolidated database,” said Taylor Picard, a staff archaeologist at the museum.

The museum helps manage a preserve of shipwreck sites open to divers interested in exploring the lake’s history, while the location of other sites are confidential to protect the resources. The database will connect wreck sites to the museum’s collections and 3-D models staff are gradually compiling from the different sites. They hope the database will eventually be so detailed that sites can be represented by the actual outline of their footprint – rather than a simple point of its location.  

“I honestly couldn’t even tell you what the future of this will look like,” Picard said. 

New finds continue at old sites

While most of the shipwreck sites have been known to divers and researchers for decades, they continue to change and museum staff and their partners continue to uncover more artifacts and information from the sites.

A recent excavation of a Revolutionary War-era vessel at Arnold’s Bay in Vermont turned up hundreds of artifacts that shine light on how early American naval fighters were equipped. An amateur archaeologist on the lake in 2020 found the paddlewheels of the Steamboat Phoenix, a well-known shipwreck. Most people around the lake thought the wheels had burned, but they were lying in sediment at the bottom of the lake. The museum is currently preserving a bearing block from the paddlewheels. That work could be completed later this year.

“It’s cool to see research continue after such a long history,” said Cherilyn Gilligan, the museum’s co-director of archeology. “Things are preserved as they are just underwater in Lake Champlain and we use that to our advantage.” 

VHS tapes could provide hints of environmental change

The museum plans to digitize old video recordings taken from wreck sites over the years. While the footage isn’t as clear as current documentary methods, they do offer researchers an important snapshot. Many of the videos were taken before Lake Champlain was overtaken by invasive zebra mussels.  

The mussels, which have spread throughout the lake since they were first spotted in 1993, have covered entire shipwrecks and are contributing to the sites’ gradual deterioration. Researchers can return to the old footage to learn more about how the wreck sites have changed in recent years. 

The museum is also compiling detailed 3-D models of the sites using photogrammetry. By piecing together thousands of photographs from different angles, museum staff can create models for its website and geodatabase and to share with students and others. 

“We are using new technology and older documentation methods to be as thorough as we can,” Gilligan said.