Browse Items (137 total)

Though much of the Pacific islands owned by the US had already been designated as military facilities, Palmyra remained except until 1939, when the government determined its current owners, the Fullard-Leo family, did not have legal claim to it, and…

This brief account of the wreck of the Henry James, offers unique descriptions of what survivors found while staying on Palmyra, awaiting rescue. It mentions pre-existing huts and inscriptions on trees, as well as leeches, a first to be heard of in…

Brief mention of the British barque Henry James, which was wrecked on an unidentified reef near Palmyra, and whose survivors lived 6 weeks on Palmyra.

A colorful account of the Weisbarth incident, wherein an entire shipment of coconuts from Palmyra had to be burned because of a Lepidopterous infection. You can read more about that in other articles in the archive.

In this case, the article…

This portrait of US Marine James L Breckenridge has little information, and was found while combing through the National Archives online records. Besides the name and date, we don't know much else, only that he was on Palmyra at that time, likely as…

These rare aerial photos show Palmyra prior to the massive construction projects of the Seabees (Marine Construction Brigades) starting in 1939. You can clearly see the various lagoons and reef outlines, with the islets thickly covered in foliage,…

Palmyra Designation: KH5
Operator: AA6LF

This highly detailed chart from the visit of the USS Portsmouth to Palmyra in 1873, was the standard map used for navigating the waters in and around Palmyra well into the early 1900s, until the US Navy took interest in using Palmyra as a base of…

In 1996, entrepreneur, lounge singer, and amateur treasure hunter Bill Warren filed for salvage rights to a speculative shipwreck off the coast of Palmyra he believed contained the recovered treasure of the pirate vessel Esperanza, which sank near…

This extensive account of Fanning's voyages in the South Pacific offer brief descriptions of every event on his adventures. Presented here is a short excerpt describing his discovery of Palmyra, though it was published after the account of the ship…