In 1993, the MRD worked with the South Carolina Department of Transportation to remove live oaks destined for removal in the path of a highway project and provide them to New England shipwrights for use in restoration and replicas of historic vessels. The impetus for the program began with providing live oaks for use during a major reconstruction of the USS Constitution, the nation's oldest commissioned warship at berth in Boston, Massachusetts. Since that time, other historic ship reconstructions and restorations have used live oaks supplied from South Carolina. Live oaks from Hilton Head were used at Mystic Seaport, Connecticut to build a replica of the Amistad, a vessel famous for its involvement the early abolition movement in the United States.
Related Information
1998. Amer, Christopher F. "The South Carolina Historic Ships Supply Program." Underwater Archaeology Proceedings. Society for Historical Archaeology Conference. Babits, Lawrence, Fach, Catherine, Harris, Ryan (eds.). Society for Historical Archaeology. pp. 20-24.
1997. Snediker, Quentin T. "The History of the Amistad." Legacy. Vol. 2, No. 1. March. South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology. University of South Carolina. Columbia, South Carolina. pp. 16-17.
1996. Amer, Christopher. "South Carolina Live Oaks Saved for Historic Shipbuilding." Legacy. Vol. 1, No. 2. November. South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology. University of South Carolina. Columbia, South Carolina. pp. 15, 20.