Dredging up history. That’s exactly what happened here at Confederate Ship Area Park. This park marks a site of significant historical importance. It tells a tale of war, loss, and rediscovery.
During the Civil War, the Confederate States relied on ships to bring essential supplies to Houston. Federal blockades of Galveston made this increasingly difficult. Ships had to slip past patrols to reach Houston’s supply depots. One such ship, likely the Augusta, reached Houston safely only to spring a leak.
The Augusta was towed to the Milam Street landing. Tragically, it sank before its cargo could be unloaded. The Confederates abandoned the ship. As years passed, the bayou’s water level would occasionally drop. The ship would then reappear. Divers managed to recover many relics from it. But around 1910, the ship was blown up for unknown reasons. Its remains slowly disappeared into the bayou silt.
Fast forward to 1968. The Southwestern Historical Exploration Society decided to retrieve artifacts. On July 20th, an 80-ton dragline was positioned on the Milam Street Bridge. The crew started dredging mud from the bayou. By afternoon, they recovered an aged cannonball.
The discoveries didn’t stop there. Soon after, they found musket balls, bayonets, coins, square nails, and pistol balls. These items had been submerged for over a century.
Before the Civil War, John Kennedy, an Irish immigrant, had opened a bakery in Houston in 1842. Kennedy expanded his business and land holdings. In the late 1840s, he took over the Torrey brothers’ trading post and opened the Kennedy Trading Post. By 1860, he had built a flour mill and the Kennedy Building. The Confederacy leased the Kennedy Building in 1862 for use as an arsenal.
After the Confederacy surrendered in 1865, soldiers looted the Kennedy building. They took items to help them rebuild their lives. Soldiers and families appropriated government stores. They destroyed ordnance stores. Guns, shot, and shells were dumped into Buffalo Bayou. Kennedy disposed of remaining ordnance by dumping it into the bayou at the Iron Bridge at Milam Street.
The disposal of ordnance was part of a larger effort to deprive Union forces of Confederate supplies. Blockade runners and ammunition barges had operated between Houston and Galveston during the war. In June 1865, three vessels loaded with rifles and cannon balls were scuttled in the bayou.
In 1906, a low tide exposed remains of the Civil War disposal effort. The city authorized the Houston Yacht and Power Boat Club to clear the bayou. An explosion revealed an old ammunition boat. People gathered to search for relics. Many bombshells were still dangerous. Recovered items included Civil War era rifles, cartridges, cannonballs, money, and a diamond ring.
In 1947, during the construction of a new concrete bridge, 351 cannonballs were uncovered. They were taken to Fort Sam Houston for disposal.
Carroll A. Lewis, Jr., a real estate developer and history buff, organized an excavation in 1968. He hoped to recover artifacts from the sunken ships. His efforts relied on eyewitness accounts from the 1906 excavations.
John Gresham claimed he and his grandfather boarded the sunken boat. His grandfather recognized it as the Confederate blockade runner Augusta. W. L. Cleveland remembered the old boat near the Milam Street bridge. Felix Joe Richard recalled finding boxes of shells, cannon balls, and a cannon on the boat.
The Southwestern Historical Exploration Society dredged the bayou. They recovered cannonballs, projectiles, fuses, pistol balls, rifle balls, a bayonet, and other items. These finds represented the typical cargo of a Confederate supply ship. The artifacts were slated for display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Today, Confederate Ship Area Park stands as a reminder of these events. It connects us to a time when Houston played a crucial role in the Confederacy. The waters here hold secrets and stories. These stories resurface. They remind us of the past. They shape our present.