Anchor farm grows in Cooper River

Last spring, a Department of Natural Resources research vessel trawling the waters off Georgetown snagged a most unusual catch: an eight-foot, early 19th century ship’s anchor.

Although it was an interesting find, the anchor also presented a big problem. Preserving the 1,400-pound hunk of metal — of undetermined historical significance — would cost thousands of dollars that the state just does not have.

Luckily, the big coral-crusted hunk of iron won’t have to go to the anchor graveyard — it’ll be put out to pasture, so to speak. This month, the 19th century anchor will become part of the state’s Anchor Farm, part of the Cooper River Heritage Trail.

The trail — a collection of underwater historical sites marked by buoys, guidelines and underwater plaques — quickly is amassing a respectable collection of artifacts, and the anchors are a big part of that.

While there are other underwater trails in the Caribbean and Florida, there is no other place to see such a collection of centuries-old anchors.

“The Anchor Farm is unique,” said Chris Amer, the state’s underwater archaeologist. “The maritime heritage trail is part of our education component. The Cooper River has some of the richest history along the Eastern seaboard.”

Amer, who is with the University of South Carolina’s Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, said the farm wasn’t really planned — it just sort of happened.

Ten years ago, a couple of guys illegally took an anchor off a wreck a mile downstream from the trail. In court, the judge gave the men an option: They could pay a fine and end up with a criminal record, or they could pay to put the anchor in a secure location. Archaeologists thought it would make a good addition to the maritime heritage trail.

A year later in 2000, a shrimper caught a smaller anchor off Hilton Head. Archaeologists put it in the river, next to the first one. Since then, two others have been added — including one recovered off South Adgers Wharf on the Charleston peninsula during construction of a pumping station for sewage and drainage.

At first, the city wanted to preserve the one-ton anchor and put it on display. When officials realized it would cost $20,000 or more to conserve it, the anchor was sent to the farm.

Submerging these anchors in the river preserves and protects them without the cost of chemical cleaning or electrolysis — two common methods for restoring iron.

“It’s far enough up the river that it’s fresh water,” Amer said. “You treat these artifacts in fresh water.”

The fresh water helps pull the salt out of the metal, all while giving folks a chance to look at them in their natural habitat.

That same principle applies to the other artifacts preserved on the 11-year-old heritage trail, which runs along the Cooper from just north of Cypress Gardens up to Mepkin Abbey.

Along the trail, there is the Strawberry shipwreck, which dates to 1781; the Strawberry Ferry landing, which dates back to 1705; the Pimlico sailing vessel; a 19th century barge; the Mepkin Abbey boat, and a former plantation wharf.

These sites sit in 20 or so feet of water, close enough together that scuba divers can see all the sites in a single day, and safe enough — with guidelines — that beginners can handle it. Depending on the tides, visibility can range from 2 to 20 feet.

“It’s an interesting concept for a trail,” said Tom Robinson, owner of Charleston Scuba. “If you like river diving and history, there are all different types of early colonial construction.”

Capt. Tom McMillan, who runs his own local dive charter, said the trail is a good spot for novice divers, as long as they do it on an incoming tide.

“You can learn a good bit about how a 1700s vessel worked,” McMillan said. “Everything is pretty fragile, so you have to be careful not to grab anything in an outgoing tide and break it off. Once it’s broken, it’s gone forever.”

Robinson said the trail is not a huge draw for folks yet. Most folks prefer to go offshore. River divers, he said, are looking for artifacts like shark’s teeth or fossils. And they aren’t supposed to touch the wrecks, which largely are devoid of small artifacts.

But in the next month or so, there will be one more really large artifact. One that nobody will carry off.

Source: The Post and Courier