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Found: Old Wall in New York, and It's Blocking the Subway
NY Times ^ | December 8, 2005 | PATRICK McGEEHAN

Posted on 12/08/2005 3:09:12 AM PST by Pharmboy


Metropolitan Transportation Authority

The top of an old wall was discovered by workers digging a new subway tunnel under Battery Park.

Three weeks after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority started digging a subway tunnel under Battery Park, the project hit a wall. A really old wall. Possibly the oldest wall still standing in Manhattan.

It was a 45-foot-long section of a stone wall that archaeologists believe is a remnant of the original battery that protected the Colonial settlement at the southern tip of the island. Depending on which archaeologist you ask, it was built in the 1760's or as long ago as the late 17th century.

Either way, it would be the oldest piece of a fortification known to exist in Manhattan and the only one to survive the Revolutionary War period, said Joan H. Geismar, president of the Professional Archaeologists of New York City.

"To my knowledge, it's the only remain of its kind in Manhattan," Ms. Geismar said. "It's a surviving Colonial military structure. That's what makes it unique."

Among the items found around the wall are a well-preserved halfpenny coin dated 1744 and shards of smoking pipes and Delft pottery, said Amanda Sutphin, director of archaeology for the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.

"It's one of the most important archaeological discoveries in several decades in New York City," said Adrian Benepe, commissioner of the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. "Everybody knows that the Bronx is up and the Battery's down. But I don't think anybody anticipated that the Battery was 10 feet down."

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: New York; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: americanhistory; archeology; colonialnewyork; godsgravesglyphs; nyc; revwar
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This is a great find for those of us interested in colonial NY and the RevWar. Something to see for those of you visiting NYC for the Christmas Season...
1 posted on 12/08/2005 3:09:15 AM PST by Pharmboy
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To: blam; SunkenCiv; aculeus; Clemenza; ELS
American history, NYC RevWar ping...
Your Obdt. Svt,
P____boy
2 posted on 12/08/2005 3:11:25 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy

Any graffiti?


3 posted on 12/08/2005 3:22:48 AM PST by Leisler (HEY LEFTY! FREED TIBET YET?)
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To: Pharmboy

Cool.


4 posted on 12/08/2005 3:26:31 AM PST by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
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To: Leisler
Perhaps

"Brits Out Now!"

5 posted on 12/08/2005 3:28:11 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy

Fascinating.


6 posted on 12/08/2005 3:29:07 AM PST by hershey
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To: Pharmboy

Screw the Fawgin' wall you fawgin fawg!!!


7 posted on 12/08/2005 3:31:16 AM PST by DainBramage
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To: DainBramage

Your point with that statement is what, exactly? Perhaps you're just perpetually annoyed.


8 posted on 12/08/2005 5:49:49 AM PST by MineralMan (godless atheist)
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To: Pharmboy

It's ironic for me to read this today. I was just reading about the defense of New York during the Rev War in "The Glorious Cause" by Jeff Shaara.

I highly recommend this book and its prequel "Rise to Rebellion".


9 posted on 12/08/2005 5:50:11 AM PST by pgyanke (The history of man is the story of God reaching out for His people and continually being refused.)
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To: Pharmboy

Weren't New Yorkers mostly Loyalists? ;-)


10 posted on 12/08/2005 5:54:53 AM PST by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
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To: pgyanke
Excellent...as they say, timing is everything.

As you likely know, very few remnants of colonial and RevWar times remain in NYC. Fraunces Tavern, St Paul's Chapel and the Morris-Jumel Mansion are the only Manhattan sites that I know of that remain. Happily, they were all touched significantly by The General.

11 posted on 12/08/2005 5:55:53 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Hemingway's Ghost
NYC, then as now, was a complicated place in colnial and pre-RevWar times. As a matter of fact, from 1765 through 1770, it was NYC rather than Boston that was the center of ant-British activity (Stamp Act Congress; Son of Liberty; Battle of Golden Hill ).

But yes--you are right to imply that a good percentage of Loyalists came from NYC. The patriots fled when the brits occupied the city, many of them going to Philadelphia.

12 posted on 12/08/2005 6:00:48 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy

The spot where Nathan Hale was said to be executed is now a GAP.


13 posted on 12/08/2005 6:01:38 AM PST by durasell
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To: durasell

Yes--65th and Third. I leave flowers on the spot each July 4th when I am in town.


14 posted on 12/08/2005 6:03:10 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy
Yes--65th and Third. I leave flowers on the spot each July 4th when I am in town.

Have you been up to Dorchester Heights, from where the Good General chased the British out of Boston?

15 posted on 12/08/2005 6:05:21 AM PST by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
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To: Pharmboy

I didn't know about that list of sites. Thank you.


16 posted on 12/08/2005 6:08:03 AM PST by pgyanke (The history of man is the story of God reaching out for His people and continually being refused.)
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To: Pharmboy

The Battle of Brooklyn took place on the site of the Independence Savings Bank...


17 posted on 12/08/2005 6:08:47 AM PST by durasell
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To: Hemingway's Ghost

No I haven't as of yet, but something that I am looking forward to. I have walked the Freedom Trail in Boston, climbed the Bunker Hill Monument and walked the bridge during my visit to Lexington and Concord.


18 posted on 12/08/2005 6:10:56 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: durasell
Well, the battle was much more widespread than that! Click here, for a start...
19 posted on 12/08/2005 6:13:05 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy

Whorealdo!!,,,Calling Whorealdo!!! What's on the other side sir?


20 posted on 12/08/2005 6:16:02 AM PST by bert (K.E. ; N.P . Chicken spit causes flu....... Fox News)
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