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What’s next for shipwreck washed up in Nags Head?

Posted at 7:11 PM, Nov 16, 2012
and last updated 2012-11-16 19:11:09-05

A piece of a shipwreck that recently washed ashore in Nags Head won't be going anywhere anytime soon unless the waves get ahold of it.

A piece of North Carolina history is grabbing a lot of people's attention --history right at our fingertips.

The weathered, wooden treasure washed ashore near the Bonnett Street Beach access in Nags Head after Hurricane Sandy -- a discovery for some, but for others, like David Elder, it's something he's seen on the beach several times before.

Bow fragment and round iron ring are believed to be part of the Irma, a popular schooner that ran aground in the 1920s.

Since then, parts of the ship have made a home near the Croatan Surf Club up the road in Kill Devil Hills.

Sarah Downing, assistant curator at the Outer Banks history center, says that shipwrecks found in North Carolina become state property.

But partly because of a lack of funding for preservation, this wreckage could remain where it is for now.