Tidewater Time Capsule: History Beneath the Patuxent

Synopsis

Only a decade ago few people understood the value of the submerged cultural resources beneath the waters of the Chesapeake region. Underwater archaeology was considered adventurous foolishness rather than scientific inquiry; each underwater investigation was an experiment in new concepts, often carried out by amateurs and scoffed at or ignored by the Recently, the search for the region's underwater heritage, both historic and prehistoric, and particularly its maritime history, has been validated, and has initiated an intensified attempt to study and preserve the priceless resources hidden in the waters of the Bay and its tributaries.

This is the story of one such effort. The Patuxent Project was the first underwater archaeological survey of an entire river system. In this multiphase investigation, archaeologists sought such diverse resources as inundated aboriginal and historic sites, harbor facilities, military establishments, battle sites, shipwrecks, and, in particular, the final resting place of Joshua Barney's famed Chesapeake Flotilla from the War of 1812.