Remains of a shipwreck have been discovered on the New Jersey shore — 132 years after the vessel caught fire mid-voyage and sank into the sea, according to reports.
The weathered, 25-foot structure turned up over the weekend at Stone Harbor Point following changing levels in the sand, NJ.com reported.
Experts believe the wreckage, which remains partially covered in sand along the shore, is from the D.H. Ingraham, a schooner that originated in Rockland, Maine, and was destined for Richmond, Virginia.
The vessel was carrying limes when it caught fire and sank a mile and a half north of the Hereford Inlet in North Wildwood on Dec. 4, 1886, according to the Ocean City Life-Saving Museum.
It was snowing heavily when the Ingraham’s five-member crew were safely rescued by a team of seven lifesaving station employees — but the ship itself burned before disintegrating into the Atlantic.
The rescuers received Medals of Honor from Congress for the feat — three of which are currently inside the lighthouse, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
The area around where the wreckage had been buried was perilous for sailors before the Hereford Lighthouse was put in place.
Steve Murray, former chairman of the Friends of Hereford Inlet Lighthouse, has written about some 60 shipwrecks in the inlet from the late 1700s to around the 1900s.
“There’s a very good possibility that it’s the Ingraham,” Murray told the Press of Atlantic City. “It’s exciting to be able to touch it after talking about it for so long.”
Stan Sperlak, of the Cape May County Museum, noted, “It adds up pretty well. But unless you have a name on the boat on the timbers, it’s always just an educated guess.”
In 2004, the Army Corps of Engineers found a 227-foot, iron-hulled steamship from the Civil War era in the area between Stone Harbor Point and North Wildwood.



