Mystery shipwreck discovered in N.J. Inlet

ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK, N.J. — Some things are better left where they're found.

That’s what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided after uncovering a nearly century-old shipwreck at Barnegat Inlet along the Jersey shore.

In the summer of 2014 the corps began repairs at Barnegat Inlet North Jetty, which was damaged during Superstorm Sandy.

But the project, which cost in excess of $7 million, was stopped this summer after contractors began unearthing pieces of wood and metal that turned out to be the remnants of a long, lost shipwreck, the identity of which still baffles experts.

Lake Huron shipwreck found after more than 100 years

"Once we realized what we found wasn't pieces of debris from the project we brought in a cultural expert," said Tim Boyle, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District.

Nicole Cooper Minnichbach, the corps’ cultural resources specialist, was called in to sift through sections of hand-hewn, wooden hull fragments, treenails and various metal fasteners, and she determined the find was an historic shipwreck.

Panamerican Consultants Inc. of Memphis, Tenn., was then subcontracted to find out the ship's identity.

Their team dove into historic records and cross referenced their findings with field observations and wood analysis to conclude the vessel was most likely a schooner barge built in the Northeast between 1876 and 1914.

"The schooner barge was an uncelebrated, ubiquitous workhorse of the period, hauling mundane cargoes of coal and lumber, with untold numbers passing just offshore Barnegat Inlet during any given year. That many of them wrecked at the inlet is known, that one of them represents the North Jetty Shipwreck is likely," the report said.

Parts of the ship have been excavated and preserved for future study. However, rather than unearth the entire ship the Corps of Engineers reburied it as it completed the project.