Balancing Acts: Public Access and Archaeology in the Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck District

Summary

During the American Civil War, Wilmington, North Carolina served as an important blockade-running center for the Confederacy. The Cape Fear region’s high traffic and dangerous shoals resulted in the largest concentration of Civil War shipwrecks in the world. The interpretation of these wrecks for public outreach constitutes a valuable opportunity to educate members of the public using a material culture assemblage connected with the historical framework of the Wilmington blockade. This paper explores ways to develop public stewardship programming, specifically targeting SCUBA divers, for six specific shipwrecks located in the New Inlet unit of the Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck District. By researching the competing management uses of these wrecks, the goal of this paper is to examine the process and procedures of developing management plans that balance archaeological preservation and research with public access and educational interpretation. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Papers in Naval Archaeology: Privateers; Civil War Harbor Defenses, Ships and Men; and the Rise of Submarines in the Last Century   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 69