Sunken 19th-century cemetery and hospital wreck discovered off Florida coast

Researchers have discovered the remains of a sunken 19th-century cemetery and hospital quarantine hospital on a submerged island off the coast of Florida.

Archaeologists from the National Park Service identified the burial ground as the Fort Jefferson Post Cemetery, a military prison during the American Civil War.

The researchers also found a small quarantine hospital which was used to treat yellow fever patients at the fort between 1890 and 1900.

Efforts are ongoing to name those buried at the ceremony; so far one civilian, a fort labourer named John Greer who died in 1861, has been identified on a grave.

Sign up for our newsletters.