The Chestatee River Diving Bell
by Christopher Worick and Manuel B. Carvalho © ![]() For over a century the secrets of the Diving Bell were held beneath the murky waters of the Chestatee River. On October 18, 1876, the Diving Bell and its boat sank under mysterious circumstances. While ending the short career of the only manned submersible gold mining operation in Georgia, it did not end the mystery of how it sank or where it came from. Unlike a submarine, which is self contained and moves under its own propulsion, the Diving Bell is an open-bottomed pressurized submersible which is tethered to a surface vessel. Raised and lowered through a well in the boat this diving bell was built specifically to mine for gold at the bottom of the Chestatee River.
The diving bell and boat made their appearance in September of 1875. Within a little over a year the dreams of the Loud Mining Company would end as their boat disappeared under mysterious circumstances beneath the river depths taking the diving bell with it on its final descent. The only visible reminder was the airlock protruding from the river, like a silent sentry eternally keeping watch. [Photo at right courtesy of Charles Satterfield.]
Time moves on and memories fade. After removing the river debris which had accumulated inside the bell, nothing was found of any real value. A few tools and the decayed remains of other wooden and metallic artifacts were all that were found. Even dredging around the sunken boat did not yield any significant discoveries aside from exposing the curious design of the 50 foot long vessel. With nothing of value uncovered the diving bell became just a curiosity for anyone passing by along the river. The diving bell was now at the mercy of not only the elements but also souvenir hunters. With time the rusting hulk was robbed of its equipment and machinery that lay upon the riverbank. Even parts which were bolted to the submersible were pilfered by treasure hunters and curiousity seekers. Every item taken from the diving bell made it more difficult to determine how it actually operated.
The Bell was a point of interest to many over the years and particularly so to local author Anne Amerson [seen at right about a decade, ca. 1991, after the bell was pulled from the river] who did extensive research for her published articles in the North Georgia Journal [Winter 1989 and May 2002], in the Dahlonega Nugget [3B, 3/26/1992], in her I Remember Dahlonega vol. 2 and 4 [Chestatee Publications, 1997] book series and in Georgia Backroads magazine [Autumn 2008]. In 1995, the Owens family who owned the property on which the bell was located wanted to donate the craft to the Dahlonega Gold Museum. Although the idea did find support among the local population, the project was ultimately turned down by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources [DNR]. Due to the size of the Bell the DNR felt that it would mar the appearance of the museum and the project languished.
The Bell continued to remain on the side of the river until 2003. By this time Birch River, LLC had purchased the property and converted the land into a gated community and golf course. Their plan was to make the diving bell the centerpiece of a children's playground rather than letting it continue to rust. Local metalworker, Larry Lingerfelt was asked by Birch River to repair and repaint the artifact. However, recognizing that this plan wasn't the best idea the semi-restored bell was moved to the maintenance access road and forgotten once again.
In the Spring of 2007, two visiting divers heard the story about the diving bell and became interested in seeing it for themselves. Upon viewing the craft, they realized that this was something very old and unusual. They began emailing and made inquiries in Historical Diver Magazine requesting anyone from the nautical community with information about the bell to contact them. One lucky phone call to the Smithsonian Institution was referred to Wendy Coble at the archives of the US Navy Shipyard. Wendy then contacted Dr. James Delgado of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. Dr. Delgado took an interest in the story and began researching the diving bell, calling it a "unique, rare and highly significant" example of "early American diving technology" that is "nationally significant" based on photos taken of the submersible. after searching patents and old illustrations of early diving bell, Delgado theorized this diving bell appeared to bear the hallmarks of an 1858 patented design created by Benjamin Maillefert of Astoria, New York.
With this intriguing clue, local researchers began to find more information about the origins of the diving bell from local records and newspaper articles. In 2009, a diving bell committee was formed which was comprised of local residents with the main goal of placing this historic artifact on permanent display. In the first part of 2010 several organizations came to together to formalize this project. Namely,
![]() With the necessary funds still lacking to properly restore the diving bell it looked as though the project might once again fail. Through the efforts of Bill and Helen Hardman and Mike and Lynn Cottrell a fund raising committee was started. Mike Cottrell volunteered to use his Gainesville facility to completely refurbish and repaint the diving bell. On July 31st, 2010 at the Cottrell Ranch, with over 500 people in attendance, the fully restored Chestatee River Diving Bell made its reappearance to the public. The fund raiser coupled with a grant garnered almost one hundred thousand dollars to complete the project of displaying this historical artifact. A plaza designed by architect Richard Owens was completed in November 2012 to house the Diving Bell on public display in Dahlonega’s Hancock Park where this unique and only example of this type of submersible craft known to exist in the United States will once again cause wonder as it did when its journey first began. The dedication ceremony for the plaza was held on 30 Nov. 2012. This video below provides a brief overview: Document Control Added video of dedication ceremony on 16 Feb 2013. Changed date of Satterfield airlock photo from 1961 to 1966 on 1 Feb 2013. Added date for Anne Amerson's photo of ca. 1991 on 31 Jan 2013. Modified for plaza openingon 14 Dec 2012. Originally Posted 3 April 2012. Credit: Plaza design is by Richard Owens, bell artistic concept is by Chris O'Reilly. |
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