Sibyl Marston was a wooden schooner cargo ship built by W. A. Boole & Son of Oakland, California and belonging to the Sibyl Marston Co. Sibyl Marston sank off the coast of Lompoc, California on 12 January 1909.

Overview

On 12 January 1909, Sybil Marston, the largest steam schooner built on the West Coast of the United States, struck the rocks near Surf Beach, California and ran aground in a storm. She was carrying 1100000 board feet of lumber. Two crew members were killed in the disaster. Shortly after the Sybil Marston disaster, Lompoc residents salvaged the lumber and used it to begin a town lumberyard. Several houses built in Lompoc used lumber from the shipwreck. Surf Beach and its adjoining coastal area was a dangerous place for ship travel in the time before radar navigational systems made seafaring safer. There are about 30 recorded shipwrecks along the Surf Beach coast.

Location

The shipwreck is located 1 mi south of the Surf Amtrak Station in Lompoc.

Sources