Polluted Gowanus Canal Could Be Revolutionary War Treasure Trove

NBC New York ^ | Mar 17, 2011 | IDA SIEGAL

[aculeus]

Great post!

[outhousepatrol]

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/

[Sacajaweau]

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

[Sacajaweau]

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

[Sacajaweau]

Old State Line refers to soldiers??

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

[thackney]

revolutionary war artifacts

the canal was built in 1869

?????

[Gondring]

Quite a contrast to later Maryland militia, eh?

[Gondring]

Not "Old State Line," but "Old Line State." Pharmboy is, as usual, exactly right.

Maryland had its own Tea Party, too.

[Gondring]

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. :-)

[COBOL2Java]

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... :-)

[COBOL2Java]

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:

[thackney]

Thanks, but if it was dredged in 1869, why is it expected to contain relics from nearly a century before?

[Pharmboy]

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

[Pharmboy]

Thanks you...glad to see you here!

[GeronL]

*d’oh!*

[Pharmboy]

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.

[Pharmboy]

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

[thackney]

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.

[Gondring]

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. :-)

[JerseyHighlander]

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.