Southern Breeze 2007 Summer Issue - (Page 54) A waterfront shot of the Mystic Seaport with the Charles W. Morgan in the center (above) and a ship from 1920 (right). N Now timber from 170 Gulf Coast live oaks will be used by Mystic Seaport to rebuild parts of the Charles W. Morgan, the world’s only surviving wooden whaling ship. A National Historical Landmark, the ship will begin a multi-year, $3.5-million overhaul in Fall 2007. The Morgan is only the latest historical wooden ship to be rebuilt and restored since the Seaport was founded in 1929 to preserve America’s maritime culture. In addition to the Morgan, acquired in 1941, the nation’s leading maritime museum’s collection includes nearly 500 vessels and a complete village of historic buildings from all across New England. The Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard, constructed in the 1970s, has seen the restoration of numerous historic ships and the re-creation of the schooner Amistad from the keel up. When the Morgan sets sail again, she will carry within her wood from another National Historic Landmark. Beauvoir, the last home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, suffered heavy damage from Katrina. The Biloxi beachfront mansion, which had survived the ferocious Hurricane Camille, took a direct hit from Katrina which tore off its distinctive front porch and completely destroyed several of its historic outbuildings. Among the hundreds of trees lost on the grounds s o u t h e r n b re e z e . c o m historical image of the were two huge live oaks dating back to Davis’ day. Beauvoir’s caretakers were concerned that the fallen oaks be used for an historically appropriate purpose; in the past, trees lost in storms had been used by the United States Navy to restore the historic USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides.” Now, in a unique merging of two chapters of American history, planks from the Beauvoir oaks will be used to rebuild the Morgan. For Beauvoir curator Richard Flowers, recycling the trees provides an opportunity to see some good come from the hurricane’s devastation. “Many of our live oaks are more than three hundred years old, which puts them at the time of the first French settlements. It’s good that the wood will be recycled into another application of history.” O’Farrell echoes Flowers’ sentiments. “The link between the two entities becomes a connection in history. Here’s the last wooden whale ship in the world being restored with wood from one of our underrated American historical sites,” he says. “We jumped at the opportunity to get the Beauvoir oaks. It was like ‘oh my gosh, here’s another piece of history helping to rebuild our piece of history.’” As preparations begin for rebuilding the Morgan, trucks from Mystic have collected the Mississippi trees and brought the trimmed trunks and limbs 54 THESE AND OPPOSITE TRUCK IMAGES COURTESY OF MYSTIC SEAPORT http://southernbreeze.com
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