Posted on 11/09/2005 7:14:42 AM PST by ZGuy
It may look like a fixer-upper at first glance, but what is buried beneath scrubby little Oak Island might just make its estimated $7 million price tag worth the investment.
Oak Island, in Nova Scotia, is famous for its Money Pit, a mystery that has endured two centuries, claimed six lives and swallowed up millions in life savings.
The Pit was discovered in 1795 by a local boy named Daniel McGinnis who, spotting an unusual clearing in the earth under one of the island's oak trees, was prompted to start digging. The discovery of layered planks, mysterious stone slabs, and mats made of coconut fibers descending deep into the ground turned his casual afternoon dig into an all-out excavation.
Investors and thrill-seekers would eventually jump in and continue the work, kicking off one of the world's longest running treasure hunts.
Complex trap
What appears to be a complex flooding trap has thwarted efforts to reach the bottom of the Money Pit ever since. Some think the pit was purposely flooded with seawater, via a series of artificial swamps and tunnels, to hide its contents.
Through the murk, drill borings and shafts dug by the island's series of owners have detected what seem to be cement vaulting, wooden chests, and scraps of parchment paper. Radiocarbon dating of these artifacts is consistent: whoever constructed the shaft likely did so sometime in the 16th Century.
Speculation about the contents of Oak Island's Money Pit range from the treasure of the Knight's Templar to Shakespeare's original manuscripts.
Oak Island's current owners, Dan Blankenship and David Tobias, have worked on the island since the 1960s, sinking millions of dollars into the project and revealing some intriguing clues of their own. For many who follow Oak Island developments, their abandonment of the treasure comes as a surprise. As recently as December of 2003, Blankenship told the Halifax Herald that he would announce some new, exciting findings in the following months. The revelation never came.
What's it worth?
The treasure's fate -- assuming there is treasure -- now rests on the outcome of the sale. Court-appointed liquidators in Nova Scotia are currently wrapping up the evaluation of Oak Island's market worth, with an announcement expected before the end of the year.
A growing movement led by the Oak Island Tourism Society calls for the governments of Canada or Nova Scotia to purchase Oak Island and exploit its potential as a major attraction. It seems for now the governments have little interest in throwing their hats into the ring of potential bidders, and that has many who've follow the island's saga breathing sighs of relief.
"The ideal candidate would be an individual or group with a genuine interest in and means to carry out professional archaeological work", Mark Finnan, author of "Oak Island Secrets" (Formac, 1997) told LiveScience in an e-mail interview.
Finnan believes Oak Island has not seen the last of the aging treasure-seeker Dan Blankenship, either.
"He has a strong hunch about the nature of the treasure and may yet pass on his findings to the new owners of the land or even participate in a new exploration effort," Finnan said.
I remember reading about this as a kid. I was wondering what happened to it. I'll bet a real excavation effort by professionals (read Americans) could pull the "treasure" out of that hole.
Never trust anyone who is so not-greedy about something that they want YOU to benefit from investing in it.
It's like, cosmic or something.
That's exactly what I thought when I read this. My hunch is that the current owners DID reach the bottom...and found nothing.
oh.the title led me to believe this was in Washington ,DC-
where all good money goes to die.
Actually I recall the last effort was pretty high tech by yanks with deep pockets. All to no avail. It's a money pit and my feeling is more money has been lost than the treasure is likely worth.
> I'll bet a real excavation effort by professionals (read
> Americans) could pull the "treasure" out of that hole.
Unfortunately, over the years the various amateur and
semi-pro efforts, some fatal, may have sufficiently
screwed up the geology and hydrology as to make that
impractical.
There's also the possibility that the structures were
built in anticipation of later treasure, and are void
of significant treasure. "You lot stay behind and
dig the chamber. We'll be back with the loot soon."
..New World (pirate) Money Pit. :/
I would laugh, but its not funny...anymore.
A concrete vault, huh? Kinda like Al Capone's secret concrete vault?
This sounds like a job for (da, da-da DAAAAAA!!!) GERALDO RIVERAman!!!!
maybe whorealdo could get to the bottom of this and make another comeback
wow. This has to be the most elaborate treasure hiding "safe" that I've ever seen. I sincerely hope that when the sale happens they get a full crew in there...I want to know what's in those treasure chests!
Gee I'd love to bid on this except I already have several money pits.
Aka kids....and an old house.
Read about this for years. The pictures of the hand and chests are very spooky. There are a few sort of similar 'pirate banks' scattered around the world but nothing really comes close to the 'Money Pit'. What ever it was built for had to have been done by a very organized work crew following a detailed plan who were either sworn to secrecy or murdered afterwards. Since there are no known records contemporary to its construction some have postulated that the ship or ships carrying the associated maps and drawings were sunk on their return voyage to Europe. Just about everything has been tried to get to the bottom of the pit. Cassions, pumps etc. but nothing has worked.
Do you have a link to the "severed hand" pics? I've been Googling and can't find them.
I've only seen them in print. I believe they are copywrited and available only in print version. Sorry. I'll do a search too and if I find them I'll post a link.
Exactly. How do you know he hasn't already found the "treasure" and secretly taken it out?
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