The Nags Head Wreck was brought to Nags Head Town Hall in 1978 after repeated disappearances caused by coastal storms. It was first found on shore in 1975, then buried by sand until 1977. In April 1978, a storm carried it back out to sea, where it damaged Jeannette’s Pier, and after it reappeared on shore it was moved to its current location. The structure may come from one of many wrecks in the area, including Florence Randall, Thomas Goddard, and Francis E. Waters, but no ship has been identified as a perfect match, so its identity remains unknown. Visible features include the lower part of a manual pump assembly called the pump box, damage from Teredo navalis, iron drift pins and fasteners that helped hold the keelson in place, wooden trunnels used to fasten timbers together, and copper and brass fasteners used to attach the vessel’s outer hull planks. The wreck also shows how waterlogged wood deteriorates after removal from the ocean without conservation treatment, as the water leaves the cells, the cells collapse, and the wood distorts and falls apart.