The oldest-known shipwreck in Lake Erie may have been uncovered by a project initiated by the National Museum of the Great Lakes. The Lake Serpent was a 47-foot schooner that was lost at sea after departing from Cleveland in 1829.
The Great Lakes were dangerous territory in the 19th Century, as bad weather acted as a constant threat. Lake Erie was particularly treacherous. The shallow waters of Erie are believed to have contained 2,000 shipwrecks.
The project led by the museum has found evidence of roughly a dozen shipwrecks since it began excavating. Evidence of The Lake Serpent first came in 2015, when a scan noticed something on the lake floor originally thought too small to be a shipwreck. The excavated piece is believed to be part of the ship’s bow, which features an impressive snake carving. Experts have set the likelihood that the recovered pieces do in fact belong to The Lake Serpent at 75 percent.
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