AH-WR-0432

Unidentified Canal Boat (Cayuga Lake, Aurora)

Canal Boat · United States · Lost Mid-1800s; before July 1907 · The Finger Lakes

A mid-1800s canal boat found remarkably intact under 70 feet of water off Aurora, its name and sinking date still unknown.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

This 90-foot wooden canal boat was built sometime between 1828 and 1850 for the Erie Canal-connected trade through Cayuga Lake. It sank with a cargo of coal, likely during a storm, at an unrecorded date. Recreational divers Craig Bates and Michael DeGroat discovered the wreck using sonar in September 2013 while surveying the lake bottom near Aurora. The hull remains mostly intact, with deck, cargo ports, and a large rudder still identifiable.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: 90 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Towed, no independent propulsion
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: Mid-1800s; before July 1907
Cause: Not established
Location: Cayuga Lake, about half a mile offshore, two miles northwest of Aurora, New York
Water: Cayuga Lake
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Coal
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 70 ft
Condition: Mostly intact; hull, deck, cargo ports, and rudder identifiable, covered in algae and mussels
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 2013-09
Protection: Not established