About This Artifact
A ring bolt reportedly observed by early searchers embedded in rock on the Smith's Cove shoreline. Ring bolts of this type were used to moor vessels or secure ropes during loading and unloading operations at wharves and landing points. The earliest accounts describe the bolt as fixed into bedrock at the water's edge, consistent with a purpose-built mooring point designed to withstand the pull of a ship under tide and wind. When Captain Henry Bowdoin's Old Gold Salvage and Wrecking Company investigated the site in 1909, they could find no evidence of the bolt, leaving its existence unverified by any expedition with the resources to document it.
The ring bolt has resurfaced as a subject of interest through related discoveries made during the Lagina era. On Lot 2, Gary Drayton discovered an iron spike completely embedded in a large granite boulder near Smith's Cove, with several drilled holes of uniform diameter visible once the moss was cleared. The feature resembled a ringbolt of the type used to thread chains for hauling heavy cargo, and the team identified what appeared to be a carved triangle on the stone's face. On Lot 15, Doug Crowell, Steve Guptill, Rick Lagina, and Gary Drayton searched for stones bearing metal ringbolts that Fred Nolan reportedly found in 1969, though the original ringbolts remained elusive.
A large hand-forged iron ringbolt was recovered from the eastern Uplands near the swamp by Gary Drayton and Billy Gerhardt during Season 8. Blacksmithing expert Carmen Legge identified it as a wharf pin designed for timber rather than granite, with a split end that prevents it from pulling free once driven into wood. Carmen dated the forging style to between the 1600s and 1760. Tom Nolan confirmed the find was near one of the locations where his father Fred Nolan had discovered ringbolts in the 1960s. Doug Crowell reasoned that if the ringbolt dated no later than 1760 and was already buried beneath accumulated soil, the stone road underneath must be considerably older.
Historical Context
Historical accounts
Where It Was Found
Found at Smith's Cove shoreline — the north shore of Oak Island where the flood tunnel system was discovered.
