Century Old Shipwreck Found in Ocean County

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have started on the repairs to the Barnegat Inlet jetty. They definitely weren't expecting to find a piece of history in the process.

When Hurricane Sandy hit the Jersey Shore, it also damaged the 77-year-old northern inlet jetty at the very southern tip of Island Beach State Park.

During repairs, the crew started pulling up pieces of wood and fasteners. At first they thought it could be the remnants of a railroad track that was temporarily built in the area.

But they were wrong.

It turns out they were pulling pieces of a near century old shipwreck that was under the original jetty which was constructed in 1938.

Archaeologists are trying to put the puzzle pieces together to identify the ship. They've been combing historical records, newspaper articles and other documents.

At one point many signs pointed to a barge schooner called the Dixie, which was built in 1891 and wrecked two years later off Barnegat. But the mystery ship's wood didn't match the wood listed in the records of the Dixie.

The mystery continues.