There is relatively little detailed data on pre-Civil War schooners and their construction. Many vessels of this period were never photographed, and there are no known historic photographs of the Meridian. Despite the disarticulation of the Meridian wreck and vandalism by some divers, the site retains considerable structural integrity. It is one of the few known schooners in northern Door County with a relatively intact bow and foredeck. Additionally, the Meridian exhibits distinctive construction techniques, some infrequently used in Great Lakes ships, establishing it as a source of rare archeological data on early nineteenth-century schooner construction.

As mentioned above, the Meridian is one of only two known examples of open-joint framing and arched ceiling among Wisconsin's shipwrecks (although others probably exist). This open-joint or "split" framing pattern found on the Cumberland (in Michigan), Meridian, and Niagara appear to be the only known extant examples of this technique on the Great Lakes .

The Meridian has also proven to be an important source of comparative architectural data on early schooners and contains visible examples of details inaccessible on a very similar and contemporary vessel, the Alvin Clark. The Meridian's rounded, "apple-cheeked" bow bears a strong resemblance to that of the Alvin Clark, an 1846 schooner built near Detroit and salvaged intact from the waters of Green Bay in 1969. The Clark rapidly deteriorated from lack of conservation and funding.  The rotten hull was destroyed and buried by her owners in 1994, destroying any potential she had as a source of archaeological data.

Because she was contemporary, two-masted, and similar in size, the Meridian probably looked a great deal like the Alvin Clark. However, because the Meridian is broken open, many important details that were not accessible on the Clark are available for inspection, including vessel framing and deadwood. The Meridian is also comparable with another Door County wreck, the schooner Winfield Scott, built in 1852 at Cleveland, also by William Jones, and lost off Washington Island.