Alabama, Reference number: 100007119 (restricted)
Areas of Significance: Maritime History, Archeology/Historic, and Ethnic Heritage: Black
Period of Significance: 1855-1860
Clotilda, a sunken ship, is nationally significant for its association with the last known slave trading voyage that brought captives to the United States and as the only archeologically recovered example of an American vessel lost in the transatlantic slave trade whose remains have been located and positively identified. It is known to have transported 110 African captives purchased on the west coast of what is now Benin to Alabama in violation of federal legislation outlawing the importation of slaves. On July 9, 1860, Clotilda’s captain and builder scuttled and burned the schooner to avoid seizure and examination by federal officials. The vessel assumes additional significance for it association with the post-Civil War founding of Africatown (itself a nationally significant historic district listed in the National Register) by some of the very individuals who had been forcibly captured and transported aboard Clotilda.
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Last updated: January 19, 2026