Still Waiting For The Breeze: Archaeological Investigations At Walnut Point, VA

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Development of new fishing vessels led to a significant expansion of the United States’ Mid-Atlantic oyster industry in the 19th century. New types of boats, such as the pungy, were developed to enable dredging in the deep waters of the Chesapeake Bay. During the Oyster Boom of the late 19th century, several hundred pungies served the Mid-Atlantic oyster fishery. By the 1920s, less than twenty pungies were actively being used in the industry due to the introduction of other advantageous vessels. The James A. Whiting was one of the few pungies that survived into the 20th century and was abandoned at Walnut Point, Virginia near the oyster canning house owned by C. R. Lewis & Co.. This paper discusses documentation of the historic oyster industry at Walnut Point and the search for remains of the James A Whiting.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow