Shipwreck from more than a century ago found on NC beach

SURF CITY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The remains of a 1919 shipwreck were spotted Monday at a beach in Surf City.

The ship was the William H. Sumner, a 165-foot, three-masted schooner toting phosphate, mahogany and ironwood from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to her home port in New York.

The vessel ran aground on Sept. 7, 1919, on a sandbar off Topsail Inlet.

Officials remind the public not to remove or damage the remains, because shipwrecks are protected by the state.