April 13, 2021 By Frank McCormack
As one of the dredge contractors working on the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, Weeks Marine crewmembers are used to dredging up plenty of sand and other material as the Savannah Engineer District oversees the deepening of the harbor from 42 to 47 feet.
Cannon dredged from Savannah Harbor likely predates the Civil War.
But in late February, the crew turned up something far more rare and archaeologically significant. While working in the vicinity of Old Fort Jackson, a 19th-century fort built in the years leading up to the War of 1812, located just a couple miles east of the city of Savannah, the crew unearthed several cannons, an anchor and a timber, all likely dating to well before the Civil War.