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.
Please remove the photo...I just noticed it’s a Getty Image. So sorry...
Betcha there’s some shoes encased in concrete, too.
Brooklyn was so pretty back in the Revolutionary War days. I’m sure if those people could see what a mess they’ve made of that lovely island, they’d cry.
Might be some interesting things down there
‘Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose,’
The Maryland 400...and that's why MD is also called "The Old Line State"
And how appropriate for this story to break today, St. Patrick's Day, since the vast majority of those brave Marylanders (and listen up, NBC News...not "so-called Marylanders" but the "Maryland 400") were Irish-Americans.
The RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list
Uniforms, eh? That’s gonna take a scandalous amount of Wisk. Oh wait...bacteria ate the cloth about 200 years ago. Never mind.
Anyone interested in preserving what may be down there needs to immediately research "coordination" as it relates to the epa. Coordination was written into the National Environmental Protection Act. It has been court tested. It requires the epa to "coordinate" with local authorities. Authorities can be city gov, sewer district, highway district ... anything with an elected governing body. Coordination puts the governing body on EQUAL status within their jurisdiction with the epa. It works!
Here are two good places to start. http://americanstewards.us/ and http://www.justicemyass.com/.
I am not associated with either group, though I have spoken with people from both groups, and my community has benefited greatly because of help they provided.
Indeed...the General hated to watch that but was proud of those boys. Thanks you for the quote-post.
Actually, There was quite a large percentage of the Colonial army was of Scotts Irish decent.
Perhaps because they really knew how to hate the British
What's the harm in pulling it all up, exposing it to the air, having workers interact with it, moving it all somewhere else and burying it. Seems like a lot of rigamaroll just to end up where you started.
Indeed it was...hilly in the north, but wooded with streams, church spires and Dutch farms for most else. And, great beaches.
I’m anxious to tell my husband about this. He thinks that NY Revolutionary war history is shortchanged and wonders why more NY school children don’t go on field trips to local Revolutionary War sites.
No question, but these boys were Maryland militia (with a smattering of Delaware militia in there at that battle). And, they were mostly the Catholic sons of Irish immigrants who were farmers, shopkeepers, mechanics and such. Thomas Fleming writes about them. They were not poor boys either; this was the regiment that the regular troops made fun of when they first came to NYC as they were one of the few militias to have uniforms. But after the battle, no one made fun of any of them or their memory anymore...
Can you please place me on your ping
RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list?
Happy St. Patrick's Day, lad.
Your Humble and Obdt. Svt.
P____y
Tell them the canal runs through an ancient indian burial ground.
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