The Water Witch was constructed originally as a steamboat in Otter Creek, Vermont in 1832. In 1835, the Lake Champlain Transportation Company bought the steamboat and converted the steamboat into a schooner. Piloted by Captain Thomas Mock, who had on board his wife and three children, the Water Witch was sunken along Lake Champlain with an overload of iron ore during a storm on April 26, 1866. The Mock's infant, Roa, was in the cabin, and was lost (Eddy, 2010-2014).
The Water Witch was discovered in 1977 by Derek Grout, a Canadian diver, is considered one of the oldest fully intact commercial sailing ships to be located underwater in the United States (Kennard, 2001). The schooner lies on the bottom of Lake Champlain between New York and Vermont. The vessel is historically significant for its history and construction. The location of the Water Witch is an archaeological grave site preserved by the Underwater Historic Preserve System (Eddy, 2010-2014).