Curious 8-year-old boy discovers 1856 shipwreck with birthday gift

The ship likely met its fate in Lake Huron, near Goderich in 1856.

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Mrigakshi Dixit

Representational image: The boy discovered a two-century-old shipwreck in Ontario.

iStock

A typical family beach day took an extraordinary turn for eight-year-old Lucas Atchison in Canada.

Using his birthday gift metal detector, he unearthed a nearly two-century-old shipwreck in Ontario.

Back in 2023, Lucas (now 10) was enjoying a family trip to Point Farms Provincial Park near Goderich.

While scanning the area, his detector pinged. Reportedly, he informed his father, whose initial thought was that the spike might have been used for mooring boats.

He unearthed a small steel spike. Curious, Lucas dug further, revealing that the spike was part of a larger wooden piece, which itself was riddled with additional spikes.

Little did he know, this wasn’t just driftwood. Lucas had stumbled upon the remains of a 19th-century shipwreck.

As per CBC News, the Atchison family quickly reported their incredible find to park staff and the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee.

After examining the find, experts concluded the wreckage was probably from an old schooner — characterized as a two-masted wooden sailing vessel.

The shipwreck’s double frames indicate it was a sturdy vessel intended for transporting goods on the Great Lakes. However, its precise identity is currently unknown.

Despite identifying the shipwreck years ago, obtaining the required permits for further excavation took time. Digging finally commenced earlier this month, and the work is currently in its initial phases.

Now, researchers are meticulously documenting the shipwreck, creating detailed drawings from every angle.

Archaeologists are also delving into old 19th-century insurance records for ships. These historical documents listed specific requirements, including the number of fasteners, or spikes, that different types of ships needed in their frames.

By examining these catalogues and comparing the number of spikes found on the discovered shipwreck, the researchers hope to narrow down the possibilities and ultimately identify the type of ship it was.

PopSci reported that the current leading suspect is the “St. Anthony.”

Built in 1856, this schooner was most likely carrying wheat from Chicago to Buffalo when it met its fate in Lake Huron, near Goderich.

Reportedly, old news reports from the time even mention the “schooner St Anthony of Erie” running aground near that very location.

While the 1856 report suggested they hoped to salvage the ship, it seems that at least a portion sank and remained hidden beneath the sand until Lucas’s remarkable discovery.

As marine historian Patrick Folkes points out, the discovered section might just be a small part of the entire shipwreck.

Researchers intend to re-bury the Ontario shipwreck in an anaerobic, oxygen-free environment to help preserve it by preventing natural decay from parasites and other organisms.

Recent months have seen remarkable discoveries thanks to metal detectors. In Romania, a man unearthed an ancient hoard of Roman coins.

Not long after, in Scotland, another individual stumbled upon a 4,000-year-old axe buried on his family’s farmland, a discovery that provides a glimpse of the Bronze Age and the lives of people millennia ago.

Nevertheless, thanks to the curiosity and sharp eyes of a young boy with a metal detector, a piece of maritime history has surfaced again.

Mrigakshi Dixit Mrigakshi is a science journalist who enjoys writing about space exploration, biology, and technological innovations. Her work has been featured in well-known publications including Nature India, Supercluster, The Weather Channel and Astronomy magazine. If you have pitches in mind, please do not hesitate to email her.

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Mrigakshi Dixit