Shipwreck Research in the New Orleans Notarial Archives

Subject: Cultural; Heritage and Marine Archaeology
Marine Archaeological Resources
Gulf of Mexico; Shipwreck; Archive; Sea Protest; Notary

CSE Reference: Rawls JK, Lee DB (Earth Search, Inc., New Orleans, LA). 2011. Shipwreck research in the New Orleans Notarial Archives. New Orleans (LA): US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement. 2 p. Obligation No.: M09PX00196. Report No.: OCS Study BOEM 2011-040. URL: https://espis.boem.gov/Technical%20Summaries/5156.pdf

Abstract: For 20 years, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE, formerly Minerals Management Service) has required cultural resources assessments for oil and gas leases in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Since the 1970s, such studies (Coastal Environments, Inc. 1977, Garrison et al. 1989, and Pearson et al. 2003) have resulted in an in-house database containing over 3,000 entries. Despite this research, several historic shipwrecks have been identified in industry surveys on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that appear to have no corresponding analog in the BOEMRE database. It was long believed that these vessels were simply lost to the historical record and the documentation on the event of their loss was no longer extant. It now appears, however, that previous researchers contracted by BOEMRE overlooked a potentially rich source of information at the New Orleans Notarial Archive (NONA), which houses the City of New Orleans notary records from 1733 to 1970. A large number of these documents relate to bills of sale, wills, and property inheritance matters; however, among the documents are also sea protests. This archival source of information promises to contain a wealth of previously unknown data about historic shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico.