Possible 19th-Century Shipwreck Exposed by Nor’easter in Nantucket

A maritime expert visited a Nantucket beach on Monday to investigate weathered wooden beams exposed by a recent nor’easter. These beams might be remnants of a 19th-century shipwreck buried beneath the island’s southern shore. The Egan Maritime Institute, a local non-profit, announced that its exhibits and collections manager would survey the site and send findings to state underwater archaeologists. These archaeologists will collaborate with the institute to identify the vessel.

The wreckage appeared near where remains believed to be from the Warren Sawyer, a schooner lost in 1884, have previously been discovered. Officials from Egan cautioned that the newly exposed wreckage remains unidentified. The slow-moving nor’easter hit the Northeast coast over the weekend, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, and dangerous surf. The storm flooded communities from New Jersey to New England and intermittently left over 100,000 people without power on Sunday. In Massachusetts, boats were washed ashore, and the storm raised concerns about coastal erosion.

Shipwreck remains exposed by a nor’easter are seen along the southern shore of Nantucket, Mass., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.

The Warren Sawyer ran aground on December 22, 1884, while transporting 1,115 bales of cotton and 28 tons of scrap iron from New Orleans to Boston, as noted by the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources. The ship’s captain and crew of seven were rescued. For two weeks, the schooner stayed intact on the island’s Miacomet Beach, allowing islanders to save 700 bales of cotton with skids and oxen. On January 6, 1885, another storm tore the ship apart, leaving debris scattered across the beach.

Journalist Jason Graziadei and his son explored the beach amid heavy winds after receiving a tip about potential wreckage. They found wooden beams on a beach near the town’s wastewater facility. Graziadei noted that beachgoers had been driving over the site all summer, adding to the significance of the discovery.

State archaeologists previously examined a section of the Warren Sawyer’s hull in late 2022 on Miacomet Beach and concluded that it was likely part of the vessel. A piece of the lower stern emerged nearby in February 2023, but shifting sands reburied it before documentation.

Nantucket has earned the nickname “graveyards of the Atlantic” due to the estimated 750 wrecks in the surrounding waters. Last September, a dive team identified a shipwreck near the island as a World War I fishing vessel sunk nearly a century ago. The Egan Maritime Institute warned visitors against disturbing the newly exposed wreckage as Massachusetts law protects underwater archaeological resources.

An excerpt from a 1945 newspaper article in the Inquirer and Mirror recounts the Warren Sawyer incident, detailing the rescue of sailors by life savers using ropes and a breeches buoy.