WRECK OF THE METROPOLIS 1878

THE WRECK OF THE METROPOLIS

JANUARY 31, 1878

At Currituck, North Carolina, 100 yard out, halfway between two life

saving stations, on January 31, 1878 the vessel Metropolis struck shoals

at 6:45 am. Alarms went off but heroic efforts to save her failed. 85 of the

246 passengers on board were lost.

The “ Metropolis “ , built in 1861 as the “Stars and Stripes” for the

1862 Civil War Navy. She saw action at the Battle of Roanoke Island in 1862.

After the Civil War the vessel was refitted for freight and passenger service,

renamed Metropolis, but eventually fell into disrepair which rendered her inadequate for lengthy sea trips. Nonetheless a Philadelphia construction company chartered her to transport workmen, supplies and iron rails, to Brazil to build a railroad in 1878. By the time she reached the Chesapeake Bay out of Philadelphia her cargo had broke lose and was shifting dangerously causing hull seams to leak. Next, off the North Carolina

coast, she ran upon Currituck Shoals during a heavy nor'east storm.

Source: North Carolina Department of Natural and Culture Resources.

The Tuesday, February 5, 1878 Wilmington New Journal reported

“The Wreck of the Metropolis” , how the graves of victims are marked,

that more bodies were recovered, and survivors were on their way back to Philadelphia. The recovered bodies have been buried on the beach from the

scene of the wreck to ten miles north, by life saving crews and citizens

living along the shore, without being identified.

There was reported that a woman’s body had washed ashore five miles

north, had been taken by a citizen, Thomas Piner. This body is thought

to be Mrs. Myer. It is thought that the body of Joe Newton, cabin boy, has

also been found ashore and buried five mile north.

The Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania Time Leader & Evening News, First

Edition, Friday February 1, 1878 reported that more than 200 lives

had been lost when the steamboat “Metropolis” wrecked off Currituck

Island, they being Philadelphia workmen seeking railroad work in Brazil.

The Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, signal service, reports at 6:50 am,

the”Metropolis” stranded on Currituck beach, three miles south of the

light house and was a total loss. The site is twenty miles north of Kitty

Hawk station. 50 of the survivors swam or were washed ashore out of 248 on board. Kitty . Hawk thinks there are still some aboard.

Survivor reports say the vessel was in heavy southeast gales the past

24 hours and they were headed south southwest when they struck shoals.

The life saving stations sent no assistance except for a Signal Service

messenger on horseback.

Source: Newspaper's by Ancestry, newspapers.com.