When in Drought: An Exposed Shipwreck Along the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, LA

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

When the Mississippi River dropped significantly in the Fall of 2022, the Louisiana Division of Archaeology received numerous calls and emails from citizens stumbling across exposed structures and vessels, some of which turned out to be shipwrecks. The low water levels and the proximity to the Division of Archaeology’s office allowed staff and volunteers to further document the exposed remains of the S.S. Brookhill, a previously recorded archaeological site, before the water rose back to a normal level. The Brookhill in its prime was a double-hulled ferry that operated on the Mississippi River from 1896 to 1915. The local, national, and international news coverage as well as its easy access to visitors created the perfect storm of an exciting opportunity for public archaeology and a target of antiquities theft. This poster focuses on the Brookhill, the recent information collected, and what we learned throughout this process.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• 2024 SHA Poster Submissions

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow