Deal Beach, New Jersey: 240 Immigrants Drowned 150 Yards From Shore

Deal Beach, New Jersey. It's 6.10 on the morning of November 13th, 1854, and the gale-force winds that rattled windows all night have driven the few families of Deal Beach from their beds. Through the fog and driving rain, they see her. A massive three-masted clipper ship, full sails still set, stuck hard on the outer sandbar, just 500 yards from shore. The ship's bell. That's what woke them. The incessant staccato clatter cutting through the storm. Someone aboard is ringing that bell, desperate, rhythmic, unceasing.

TIMELINE
1878: 24 years pass before the United States Life-Saving Service is formally established in 1878.
1934: Eighty years later, in 1934, the cruise ship Moro Castle caught fire.
1999: The ship's anchor was recovered in 1999.
2020: According to a 2020 report, the grave is massively overgrown, the monument quite difficult to find.

WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of Deal Beach is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.

Episode 191 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters

Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

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