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Polluted Gowanus Canal Could Be Revolutionary War Treasure Trove
NBC New York ^ | Mar 17, 2011 | IDA SIEGAL

Posted on 03/17/2011 9:13:33 AM PDT by Pharmboy

Edited on 03/17/2011 10:39:53 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]

Historians believe plans to dredge the polluted Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn could also dig up priceless revolutionary war artifacts.

Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal is most known for being a muddy-brown, foul-smelling notorious dump site near Park Slope. For Kimberly Maier, who runs the Revolutionary War Museum called The Old Stone House, it is full of historic potential. "There could be bones, there could be uniforms, their could be muskets, bullets.

Any leftover elements of battle," said Maier. The Gowanus Canal runs through the site of the Battle of Brooklyn. Fought in August of 1776, it was the first official battle of the Revolutionary War.

NEW YORK - MARCH 02: A teen walks across the... While the American soldiers lost the battle, it ultimately helped them win the war. The so-called Marylanders, a regiment of 400 soldiers from Maryland, fought a brutal battle on their own to hold off British Soldiers and keep an escape route clear for countless other American soldiers who had been ambushed. It's not clear where the bodies of the hero Marylanders are buried.

Many have speculated they could be beneath the ground of what's now a Staples on Fourth Avenue -- or they could be beneath the Gowanus Canal. "The British had a tendency to bury traitors, as they called them, where they lay and so there could be Marylanders under Staples or at the bottom of the Canal," said Maier. But curious historians are at the mercy of the Environmental Protection Agency, which will be conducting the cleanup. The EPA is mandated by law to preserve historical artifacts uncovered during the cleaning of a Superfund site, but it's at their discretion and it's not their priority.

The EPA's main concern is to rid the water and contaminates that have accumulated from nearby factories since the canal was built in 1869. The EPA has not set a start date for the dredging of the Gowanus Canal.
A spokesperson tells NBC New York it is currently reviewing which cleanup method is most appropriate, but when the work begins, the community will be closely watching.


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Maryland; US: New York
KEYWORDS: battleofbrooklyn; godsgravesglyphs; maryland400; revwar
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To: Pharmboy

Great post!


21 posted on 03/17/2011 10:05:51 AM PDT by aculeus
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To: aculeus

Well, we might dig a canal, but we WILL dig an old outhouse..Montana Magazine did a feature on us, (March/April 2011) using ELECTROMAGNETIC IMAGERS while digging in Bozeman last summer.........If you own a Ghost Town, Hotel site, etc., especially in Montana and other western states, we are interested in “Share cropping for bottles”! Details on our website.

http://outhousepatrol.com/


22 posted on 03/17/2011 10:28:04 AM PDT by outhousepatrol
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To: RobinOfKingston

Throw a few arrowheads in the canal....That’ll make the world stand still.


23 posted on 03/17/2011 10:35:04 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: syriacus

School is all PC...and that means Civil War, Civil War, Civil War.


24 posted on 03/17/2011 10:38:31 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: Pharmboy
Old State Line refers to soldiers??

Think Mason and Dixon. Plenty of Old Maps and text around.

25 posted on 03/17/2011 10:42:53 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: Pharmboy

revolutionary war artifacts

the canal was built in 1869

?????


26 posted on 03/17/2011 10:48:10 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer (biblein90days.org))
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To: Pharmboy

Quite a contrast to later Maryland militia, eh?


27 posted on 03/17/2011 11:01:40 AM PDT by Gondring (Paul Revere would have been flamed as a naysayer troll and told to go back to Boston.)
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To: Sacajaweau
Not "Old State Line," but "Old Line State." Pharmboy is, as usual, exactly right.

Maryland had its own Tea Party, too.

28 posted on 03/17/2011 11:06:39 AM PDT by Gondring (Paul Revere would have been flamed as a naysayer troll and told to go back to Boston.)
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To: Pharmboy
Oops...hit Post on wrong window and I had meant to include you on the list. (Note, I'd distinguished the Peggy Stewart incident from Chestertown because of the differing circumstances, but on second thought, I'm overturning my iconoclastic view. :-)
29 posted on 03/17/2011 11:18:27 AM PDT by Gondring (Paul Revere would have been flamed as a naysayer troll and told to go back to Boston.)
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To: GeronL
Might be some interesting things down there

You never know, maybe they'll find Jimmy Hoffa! Mythbusters couldn't find him at Giant's stadium, ya know... :-)

30 posted on 03/17/2011 11:19:13 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Obama is the least qualified guy in whatever room he walks into.)
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To: thackney
revolutionary war artifacts

the canal was built in 1869

?????

Before it was dredged as a canal, it was Gowanus Creek. Here's a graphic of Brooklyn circa 1766. Gowanus Creek is at the bottom:


31 posted on 03/17/2011 11:26:59 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Obama is the least qualified guy in whatever room he walks into.)
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To: COBOL2Java
Thanks, but if it was dredged in 1869, why is it expected to contain relics from nearly a century before?
32 posted on 03/17/2011 11:34:23 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer (biblein90days.org))
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To: Sacajaweau

Old LINE State...not State Line...LOL.


33 posted on 03/17/2011 11:47:04 AM PDT by Pharmboy (What always made the state a hell has been that man tried to make it heaven-Hoelderlin)
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To: aculeus

Thanks you...glad to see you here!


34 posted on 03/17/2011 11:57:20 AM PDT by Pharmboy (What always made the state a hell has been that man tried to make it heaven-Hoelderlin)
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To: COBOL2Java; thackney

*d’oh!*


35 posted on 03/17/2011 12:05:12 PM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
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To: thackney
I believe your point is well-made; however, I would offer this. One of the reasons that the Maryland 400 made their stand near there was that they were backed up against a marsh which was near Gowanus Creek. When they moved much of that earth near there to make the canal, they undoubtedly moved some very precious material.

The man who commanded the 400 was the New York-born, Lord Stirling (William Alexander) who would have been Washington's best general if he could have stayed sober; but, certainly his best battlefield commander and fighter notwithstanding. Among a cast of very interesting officers (Washington, Hamilton, Knox, Greene, Arnold, Putnam, Lee, Gates, et. al.) Alexander was arguably THE most interesting.

36 posted on 03/17/2011 12:10:18 PM PDT by Pharmboy (What always made the state a hell has been that man tried to make it heaven-Hoelderlin)
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To: Gondring

Thank you so much for your kind words and your additions to this thread.


37 posted on 03/17/2011 12:12:40 PM PDT by Pharmboy (What always made the state a hell has been that man tried to make it heaven-Hoelderlin)
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To: Pharmboy
I understand the significance of the area. I just am confused as it appears they are only talking about inside the canal. That would mean an area that was already dredge out and dumped elsewhere in 1869.

If they are also looking outside the canal in the area, then I am certainly mistaken. But if they are looking in the canal, I would expect “stuff” from 1870 and more recent.

38 posted on 03/17/2011 12:14:03 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer (biblein90days.org))
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To: Pharmboy
Thank you so much for your kind words and your additions to this thread.

You're quite welcome.

The former editor in me wishes they'd included a hyphen, calling it "Old-Line State." As it stands, it's an old state of the "line" type. :-)

39 posted on 03/17/2011 12:51:30 PM PDT by Gondring (Paul Revere would have been flamed as a naysayer troll and told to go back to Boston.)
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To: Pharmboy

Up until the early 2000’s the harbor masters would tell any ships with barnacle problems to move to the Gowanus Canal overnight. The water was so toxic it would kill the barnacles in under 8 hours. It’s not easy to kill barnacles...

I highly doubt there is any natural material or corrosive metal objects of historical importance that be be found inside the canal, though possibly there could be objects behind the breakwalls, though again, the chemicals probably got to them.


40 posted on 03/17/2011 12:56:46 PM PDT by JerseyHighlander (p.s. NH was a Mass. dependency until 1680)
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