The remains of a century-old shipwreck were uncovered on a beach in North Carolina, town officials said. The Town of Surf City shared photos of the wooden remains of the ship, known as the William H. Sumner, which washed up about 150 miles off of Barnacle Bill's Pier. The remnants are usually uncovered "once or twice" a year and are protected by the state, according to the town. The schooner crashed off the North Carolina shore in 1919 while carrying a cargo of mahogany and phosphate rock from the West Indies to New York, North Carolina news station WECT reported. Historians say the circumstances of the crash remain a mystery, as the captain was shot and the ship's first mate was convicted of murder initially, but it was ruled a suicide after he was acquitted. The ship first crashed on the Topsail Inlet off the coast of North Carolina, where parts of it remained intact. Eventually, the Coast Guard determined the remains were a safety hazard and blew up the ship, sending what is believed to be the ship's inner shell to Surf City's beach.