When a site of construction workers went to dig for a new skyscraper near the harbor in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, they struck historic gold.
The company, Skanska, didn’t unearth coins or treasure chests that day in May 2016. There were no long-preserved trunks full of diamonds or shimmering cloaks, and unfortunately, there were no long-lost inheritances sitting in the 50-foot-long artifact.
What they did find, though, was a ship.
The company unearthed the 50-foot-long vessel in an area of the city known as Dorchester Flats, making it the first discovery of its kind in that particular neighborhood in May 2016.
The ship lacked anything of true value in the present day aside from historic interest, as it’s believed that the crew took anything important with them and ran when they realized the ship was going down.
They did leave the cargo, though; it appears that the ship had been carrying lime, which was a common structural product used for building even back then. When they unearthed the wreck, the crew discovered barrels of the substance, still full and sealed off centuries after they were lost to the crew transporting them. Most everything else was burned, although it’s tough to tell if that was intentionally done by the crew or due to the explosive properties of lime itself.
As previously mentioned, this particular discovery was the first made of its kind in that neighborhood—so when the hull of the ship started to materialize in the dirt, it came as a complete surprise.
Then, the City of Boston removed the ship, allowing Skanska to finish up construction after they graciously halted the project in the name of history. Maybe, as they pore through the vessel’s secrets, even more can be learned about New England’s pre-colonial history.
“Many of Boston’s neighborhoods preserve the past in compelling ways,” Charley Leatherbee, who formerly headed Skanska’s commercial development operations in Boston, said in a statement. “We are introducing the Seaport’s story in a way that marries Boston’s reverence for preserving history with the Innovation District’s spirit.”
All the wooden remains from the shipwreck were turned into furniture that is said to be used in the common areas and conference rooms.
In August 2018, the City of Boston Archaeology Program posted an update on their Facebook page, writing: “With @boston_mayor at the launch event for Harbor Way, the interactive outdoor celebration of the shipwreck discovered in 2016 during construction of 121 Seabort Blvd..”
