The Many Lives of the Equator: History and Archaeological of a 19th-Century Pacific Schooner (Part I)

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.

Equator was designed and built by one of the most prolific American shipwrights, Matthew Turner, as a two-masted schooner in Benicia, CA, in 1888. Shortly thereafter, it was chartered by Robert Louis Stevenson for his cruise among the islands of Samoa and Kiribati. In 1897, it was sold and converted to a steam tender for Alaskan salmon canneries. Equator underwent its second transformation in 1915 when it was outfitted with a diesel engine, chartered by NOAA, and later became a working tugboat in the Puget Sound where it remained in operation until it was scuttled along Jetty Island in Everett, WA. This paper will examine the history, archaeological documentation, recording, and review the construction features of this important Pacific trading vessel.

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