Mystery Schooner Washes Ashore at Peterson's Point
A 106-foot wreck appears on the beach with no identification, leaving locals to speculate on its long, lonely voyage.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
On the beach directly west of the cottages of W. B. Fetterman and others at Peterson's Point, lies bottom up, the wreck of a centerboard schooner. When first seen by Mr. Peterson this vessel was in the breakers in this position, and was soon cast far up on the beach. Her keel measures 106 feet and her beam is about thirty-two feet, so she was probably a two-master. Her stern planking and bulwarks are gone, leaving nothing to give a clue to her identity. The fact that little wreckage save the stump of a mast, her stem and centerboard, have come ashore, and that the bolts are worn to a point, proves she was not wrecked on these shores but has been a derelict for many months. The wreck has been on the beach about three weeks.
“The fact that little wreckage save the stump of a mast, her stem and centerboard, have come ashore... goes to prove that she was not wrecked on these shores but has been a derelict for many months.”
Ghost ships washing ashore were a source of both fascination and danger for early coastal settlers. Peterson's Point is now more commonly known as part of the Westport area, where residents still occasionally uncover maritime history buried in the shifting sands.
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