Overview

• In 2023, Lucas Atchison, then 8, discovered a metal spike at Point Farms Provincial Park in Ontario, leading to the unearthing of a buried shipwreck.
• The wreck is suspected to be the schooner St. Anthony, which sank off Goderich, Ontario, in 1856 while transporting wheat from Chicago to Buffalo.
• Marine archaeologists have identified double frames on the wreck, indicative of a sturdily built wooden schooner, and are creating detailed scale drawings to aid in identification.
• Researchers are consulting 19th-century ship insurance records to analyze fastener patterns and confirm the vessel’s identity, though it remains unverified at this stage.
• To preserve the wreck, experts plan to re-bury it in an oxygen-free environment, a standard conservation method to prevent decay and maintain structural integrity.