Revolutionary War-era ship unearthed at hotel construction site in Va.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Archeologists are racing to recover the remains of a centuries-old ship that was unearthed at a hotel construction site in Old Town Alexandria earlier this week.

The ship is believed to have been scuttled, or deliberately sunk, in the late 1700s, around the time of the American Revolution.

City archeologist Francine Bromberg said Alexandria's earliest residents scuttled it to give the town better access to the deep channel of the Potomac.

"The founders of the city had incredible aspirations," Archeologist Francine Bromberg said.

Workers uncovered the 50-foot craft while digging the foundation for a new waterfront hotel in Old Town Alexandria, which is almost 20 minutes from Washington, D.C. It was junk to the colonists, but it's a jewel to archaeologist.

"It's a treasure to us," said Bromberg. "There is no way to even put into words how exciting it is to have this find on our waterfront."

On Tuesday, residents grabbed a brief glimpse of the old vessel, which is now surrounded by a fence.

The sturdily built craft is a hundred yards from the current shoreline.

"Lee Street, two blocks up from here was the edge of the water," said Boyd Walker of the Alexandria Preservation Alliance. "There were mudflats here."

Archeologists are documenting the site and pulling the heavy timbers out for preservation. They suspect the ship may have been a cargo ship or possible a military vessel.

"It's really cool," said nine-year-old Lucia Bigelow.

Almost as cool as the ship? An old privy they've also found in the pit. A three seater with even less privacy than a porta potty. But buried in the muck could be even more treasure.

"Because when you drop something in a privy, who is going to retrieve it?" asked a man in the crowd. "That's right," said the archeologist. "Fortunately not your cell phone." "The poop may be even more interesting than the boat?" "That's right."

Historians say there may be dozens of these scuttled ships under the buildings here on the waterfront. And as the major redevelopment of the Potomac River waterfront marches on, they may uncover even more of them.

Archeologists plan to preserve the timbers in propylene glycol.

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