USS Monitor Center

What About the Other Artifacts?

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Of the approximately 1600 artifacts recovered from the USSMonitor, 1/4 of them have been conserved. Many but not all of the 400+ conserved artifacts are now on display in the USSMonitorCenter at The Mariners’ Museum. So what do we do with the artifacts that aren’t currently on display at the museum? The museum must safely store these artifacts under precise temperature and humidity controls in order to guarantee their long term stability while awaiting exhibition.

The following pictures show one of the many climate-controlled artifact storage areas at The Mariners’ Museum. This specific location houses manyMonitorartifacts that aren’t currently on display.Read more

USS Monitor Center

A Visit to Jacob Nicklis’ Memorial

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Recently I had the opportunity to visit the memorial of one of the brave sailors who was lost when theMonitorsank in a storm off Cape Hatteras on December 31st, 1862. Jacob Nicklis, son of William Nicklis, a prominent tailor in Buffalo, New York had re-enlisted as an ordinary seaman in the US Navy on October 13, 1862 and joined theMonitor’screw shortly thereafter. He is commemorated on the Nicklis-Leonard family obelisk at Forest Lawn cemetery in Buffalo.

During archaeolgical excavation of theMonitor’sturret, a spoon was found engraved with the initials ‘JN’ which was identified as having belonged to Mr. Nicklis. The spoon has been conserved and is now on display at The USSMontitorCenter.Read more

Staff Voices

One hull of a boat….

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A different twist this week: a phone-a-visitor. In conjunction with my volunteering at the Chris-Craft Archives at The Mariners’ Museum library at Christopher Newport University, we receive phone calls from all over the world concerning various Chris-Craft boats. The mode of reference for research and responses to the callers usually hinges on the hull number of the boat as given at the time of construction. This is the basic requirement. I took a call from a gentlemen from New Hampshire who said that he had a hull plate from a Chris-Craft, but that is all! He did not know if the boat still existed, as it may have sunk, wrecked, or just died. At any rate, he wants plans and drawing so that he can build the boat around the hull number, as he is a boat builder and can use CAD (computer aided design) to accomplish this effort. ( 37-foot boat) While we may never know the end of this story, but I can assure you this will be “one hull of a boat”!

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