Posted on February 25, 2026
By Abigail Saxe
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A dredging project on Lake Champlain is turning up more than sediment; workers are pulling historical artifacts from the lakebed, including timber logs believed to be remnants of Burlington’s first wharf.
Kate Kenny, a historian with UVM’s Consulting Archaeology Program, is analyzing the timber logs recovered from the depths.
“It’s the beginning of Burlington,” Kenny said.
Kenny said the logs are what used to be the wall that lined Burlington’s first wharf. Before development, she said, the shoreline was a long, shallow crescent beach where boats could not reach shore.
“I mean, it doesn’t look like much, but it’s one of the reasons Burlington got going,” Kenny said.
Kenny is examining cuts in the wood to determine what era the pieces are from and matching that with historical records.
John Crock, the director of UVM’s Consulting Archaeology Program, said the wharf dates to the early 1800s. Researchers plan to study tree rings through a process called dendrochronology to identify the species of tree and the exact year it was cut.
“Depending on the species, we should be able to get a closer idea of when these timbers were cut, which will be indicative of the period of time,” Crock said. “Getting at some of the story that’s beyond there just being a wharf– who did it, who’s responsible for it and the history of Burlington that really contributed to the evolution of the waterfront.”
Kenny said the wharf faced structural problems in the 1950s.
“Actually, one of the problems that the wharf was having in the 1950s was apparently it was getting undercut or there were gaps created, and so when the tide came in, the water would get in and pull the dirt out and it was just caving in the front,” Kenny said.
The Perkins Pier we know today was built in 1960.
Workers also recovered a train wheel and glass bottles, which will be studied. Crock and Kenny said they will compile a report of their findings once all the data is gathered.
