MARYLANDER GREEN: AMERICA’S FIRST BATTLE MEMORIAL
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A COMMUNITY OPEN SPACE PROPOSAL A proposal to have a vacant lot at 170 8th Street and 3rd Avenue purchased and designated
a Commemorative Ecological Park
to preserve America’s First Battle Cemetery and create a historical greenway trail to celebrate Brooklyn’s Revolution
Prepared by the Marylander Memorial Committee, Brooklyn Preservation Council
August 2013
cover photos: Anna Viebrock & Fred Plaut
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE MARYLANDER BURIAL SITE
On August 27 1776, a month after America’s Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, troops from the newly formed Continental Army fought for the first time as Americans against British and Hessian troops. Much of the fighting was concentrated near what is now 4th Avenue and 3rd Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, site of the Old Stone House Memorial. America lost the Battle of Long Island but had the strategic foresight to retreat and eventually win the war that created the United States of America. A large number of American soldiers died and were buried near the battlefield.
1776, 27 August - The Continental Army at the Battle of Brooklyn Painter - Domenick D'Andrea
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Where is their burial site and how should we remember America’s first soldiers ?
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1782 SPROULE SURVEY MAP with American fortifications around the Gowanus Marshes in 1776 1
Marylander Hill Burial Site
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Old Stone House Battle Site 2
(Thomas 1913, Furman 2013)
WHERE IS THE SUSPECTED BURIAL SITE ?
The site is currently for sale and the adjacent Veterans Post has plaques and flag poles commemorating the contribution of the Marylander and Delaware Regiments to the 1776 War for American Independence during the Battle of Brooklyn.
The Site is located at the intersection of 8th Street and Third Avenue, in the neighborhood of Gowanus, on the edge of Park Slope, in Brooklyn, United States of America. It is a former chemical factory and knitting mill and now a vacant concrete slab stretching between 8th Street and 9th Street and is adjacent to the Rawley’s Veterans Post. It is 5 minutes walk from the 4th Ave / 9th Street Subway stop, served by the F, G and R subway and the 61 Bus.
There is strong evidence that this site may still hold the remains of the first soldiers ever to die for the American Continental Army.
View of site looking south towards Ninth street towards Sunset Park
View of site looking north towards 8th street and the Gowanus Canal
View of site looking north east towards Park Slope with adjacent subway line bridge and station.
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2012 Aerials via Bing Pictometry
A NEW PARK IS PROPOSED.. 6
MARYLANDER MEMORIAL PARK
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Existing Memorial Flag
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Veterans Post Improvements
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Mike Lauterborn
flag logo: National Archives
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE ?
General Howe / Jaime Rojo, street artist
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A SITE OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE
New Playground
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The Marylander Design Competition would be held to develop plans for the following Park components:
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1 A memorial to the soldiers who were buried there.
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2 A commemorative community park and playground reflecting the values that the soldiers fought for. 3 A museum or outdoor exhibits reflecting proposed archaeological site investigation findings, including its industrial history. This would be integrated with existing Old Stone House education programming.
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Future plans, based on findings, may include:
Veterans parking improvements and potential school tour group access accommodations. A stewardship center and park maintenance facility for groups like the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Gowanus Alliance and local block associations. An urban landscaping greenway incorporating a system of both natural and artificial “street creeks� to tie the park to the existing Old Stone House and Heritage Trail amenities and reconnecting the natural flow of water to Gowanus Canal Waterfront Park
WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE THAT THIS IS THE ACTUAL BURIAL SITE ?
1869 Plan of the Positions and Movements of the British and American Army on the 26th and 27th of August 1776
TW Field, Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
This is one of the few maps to show the general burial location of the casualties of the Battle of Brooklyn.
1846 Brooklyn Eagle Farm Map
Highlighted in yellow is the Staats, and later Bergen, Farms patent as described in Stile’s 1869 History of Brooklyn. The 2012 Battle of Brooklyn Old Stone House Walking Guide notes that the Staats and the Bergen families used a hill in the Gowanus marshlands, circled in red, for family and slave cemeteries. Historian TW Fields (1869) records these as having been used for the 1776 military burials.
WHAT OTHER RESEARCH IS THERE ON THE BURIAL GROUND ? 5
An Overview of Archaeological Studies performed round the Marylander Hill Burial Area
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PROPOSED PARK SITES Based on the latest historical findings, and review of historical maps, the proposed Marylander Park and archaeological site will be made up of one key Acquisition Parcel and potentially two other study parcels:
3 Study Area Site 3: 203 9th Street, Brooklyn Block 1003 Lot 59, a one story warehouse/parking owned by 203 9th Street Associates
Depending on availability, this site will be considered for its suitability for an Environmental Stewardship Center for the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and other local groups as part of Marylander Park Maintenance Plan (see Appendix for more information on these lots)
1 The Marylander Hill Park Site, 170 8th Street, Brooklyn Block 1003 Lot 11 Vacant Fried Family Knitting Mill Site
This is principal and only site being considered for the archaeological investigation and commemorative park.
Should archaeological survey discover cemetery relics, two other adjacent study sites will be considered for their relationship to the proposed park
2 Study Area Site 2 : Veterans Post Parking Lot 193 9th Street, Brooklyn Block 1003 Lot 64 Rawley Veterans Post 1636 Parking Lot
Based entirely on the interests of current owners, discussions would be initiated for an expanded archaeological study and how to better integrate this site with park, for example for periodic school bus parking.
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2013 MAP with Marylander Hill Site showing selected lots
based on archaeological reports and georeferenced historical maps.
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THE NUMBER OF WAR DEAD AND THEIR BURIAL LOCATION
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Linda Davis Reno gives the most accurate burial estimate of a 153 locally buried casualties based on a well researched Regiment history. (The Maryland 400 and the Battle of Long Island, 2008). The local burials are referred to as the dead of the Maryland and Delaware regiments or the “Marylander 400”. Estimates of total battle casualties have ranged from 256 who died at the Stone House battle site (James Walter Thomas, 1913) to 1,120 (John J. Gallagher, The Battle of Brooklyn, 1995) but this included total deaths throughout Brooklyn and soldiers taken prisoners. Thomas W. Fields, in his “The Battle of Long Island” (1870) refer to soldiers having been buried at scattered sites, and only later brought to a centralized mass grave near Third Avenue and 8th Street.
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1766 RATZER MAP showing Marylander Hill area, an “island” surrounded by marshy streams that was used as neighborhood burial site and 1776 Battle of Brooklyn burial ground as described by historians.
"On the shore of Gowanus Bay sleep the remains of this noble band. Out upon the broad surface of the level marsh rose a little island with trees and undergrowth. Around this mound, scarcely an acre in extent, clustered a few of the survivors of the fatal field and of the remorseless swamp, and here the heroic dead were brought, and laid beneath its sod, after the storm of battle had swept by. Tradition says that all the dead of the Maryland and Delaware battalions, who fell on and near the meadow, were buried in this Miniature island, which promised at that day the seclusion and sacred (quiet which befit the resting place of the heroic dead. Third avenue intersects the westerly end of the mound; and Seventh and Eighth streets indicate two of its sides".
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1782 SPROULE MAP showing Marylander Hill surrounded by streams. Gowanus Creek being salty, colonial farm houses were built next to fresh water springs that fed marsh streams.
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Chronicles of Colonial Maryland, James Walter Thomas, 1913 (further research shows hill extended from 7th to 9th Street, and potentially as far as 11th Street)
"Mingled with the remains of the servile sons of Africa whose burial ground it also was, lies the dust of those brave boys.”
Fields, 1869, as quoted in Hunter Research Draft 2012 Gowanus Canal Archaeology Report, referring to Marylander Hill
Attention for locating the Marylanders has been focused on the “traditional site” on the east side of Third Ave between 7th and 8th Street. This proposal includes updated research discussions about hill sections outside of this area where the above mentioned grave remnants may have survived.
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1 2012 MARYLANDER HILL LIDAR MODEL Light Imaging Data and
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Ranging (LIDAR) study of the “flat” concrete slab covering the 170 8th Street. The site was identified as a possible surviving remnant of the Marylander Burial Ground and LIDAR looks for terrain anomalies. The 2010 laser beam generated topographic data, accurate to within a quarter of an inch is capable of detecting minor fluctuations in the ground, giving invaluable clues to potential buried archaeological sites such as lost grave yards. 2010 DEM (Digital Elevation Model) image by Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne and Eymund Diegel
2012, 1 March, The Old Stone House, or Vechte Cortelyou house, site of the Gowanus Battle of Brooklyn Marylander soldiers last stand Photographer: Sean Hanley
Photographer - Malcolm Pinckney
In 1933 Old Stone House Memorial Committee took the leadership role in commemorating Battle of Brooklyn history with the reconstruction of the original farmhouse at JJ Byrne Park.
With the repopulation of the Gowanus basin after decades of industrial decline, the Old Stone House has helped promote a resurgence of “Battle of Brooklyn” themed activities by local historical and cultural groups, and a growing interest in the neighborhood’s history.
May 2012 Old Stone House Battle of Brooklyn reenactments with former Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Julius Spiegel and current Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey.
http://theoldstonehouse.org/
"Aye, this is the ground, My blind eyes even as I speak behold it re-peopled from graves, The years recede, pavements and stately houses disappear, Rude forts appear again, the old hoop’d guns are mounted, I see the lines of rais’d earth stretching from river to bay, I mark the vista of waters, I mark the uplands and slopes; Here we lay encamp’d, it was this time in summer also."
(a conversation between a Revolutionary War veteran and a young Union Army volunteer in the first year of the Civil War. Soldiers drill on a bright day in Fort Greene Park, and the veteran suddenly remembers the real fighting he took part in eighty-five years earlier on the same hills overlooking the Gowanus marshes) by Walt Whitman, Brooklyn Poet, from Leaves of Grass, 1855, as quoted in Barnet Schecter's The Battle for New York, 2010 8
2010, Battle of Brooklyn, a 6 day street art event by General Howe / Jaime Rojo
2001, The Brave Man, film reenactment of the Battle of Brooklyn using red and blue actors to show troop movements, by Joseph McCarthy
2012, Liberty Pole Smith and Bergen Street, Sasha Chavchavadze, Proteus Gowanus, 2008, Marylander Street Art, Peter Manzari
2013, Robert Sullivan’s My American Revolution describes how alive history can be, right under our noses.
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The Battle of Brooklyn has become a cultural touchstone, an opportunity for creating a “Revolutionary Museum without Walls”, and to continue developing the Borough as a cultural destination.
"My father (a building contractor) found … the bones of some thirty bodies in regular, or military order in the course of digging cellars for apartment buildings on the site.”
In 1955, Congress enacted legislation to pay for historical research by federal archaeologists in preparation for declaring the site a national cemetery. The 1956 Study collected valuable evidence on the potential survival of soldiers graves at the Third Ave and 8th Street “Marylanders’ Burial Site”, but heavy urbanization and active property uses prevented excavations at the time. During the 1980s industrial buildings built on top of the suspected grave site area were abandoned and demolished, leaving behind a concrete slab covering a third of an acre. This accidental mortuary slab raised the possibility that a portion of the graves could have remained undisturbed, as the buildings had never had excavated basements. Using Bob Furman’s updated 2011 Marylander research, investigations by cartographer Eymund Diegel showed that “Marylander Hill” was still at roughly the same height in 2012 that it was in 1776, (sloping from 16 to 24 feet). Though Marylander Hill’s surrounding valley stream beds had been filled in as 1850’s road construction landfilled the Gowanus Marshes, parts of the hill top had remained intact. In 2012, encouraged by this hill top survival possibility, citizen researchers from Public Laboratory, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Proteus Gowanus continued community research efforts using high resolution balloon photography.
Dr. Nicholas Ryan, a Brooklyn Heights physician, as quoted in Historical Orientation Report for Archaeological Investigation, Marylanders’ Burial Site, Brooklyn, New York, 1956, U.S. National Parks Service. Borough Historian Kelly also records that in 1955 Peter Bacenet of 427 Third Ave (at 7th Street) had found bones in his backyard but had thrown them away.
Their aerial photographs uncovered new evidence of the potential survival of a mass grave of Revolutionary War soldiers on the vacant lot, now in imminent danger of redevelopment.
1850 Stodard Topographic Survey of Third Avenue showing Marylander Hill at 21 feet in 1850, roughly the same as 2013. The adjacent 24 feet elevation portion of the Hill was never excavated, meaning some graves could have survived. (Bob Furman archives)
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GRAVES COULD HAVE SURVIVED LANDSCAPE CHANGES
HOW MUCH SPACE WOULD BODIES TAKE ? 2013 map showing survival of portions the original 24 foot high Marylander Hill (compared to surveyed heights in the 1835 USGS Renard Survey and the 1850 New York City Roads Grading Survey by Stodards and Willard Day ). Overlaid on the map is an estimate of the space that would be occupied by 153 to 256 bodies, based on a sketch (see following page) by Henry Wildhack Jr., a local resident interviewed in the 1956 National Parks Service Archaeological Survey. Based on the sketch, the trenches roughly followed a true north/south Christian burial axis. The speculative grave layout ignores any curvature in the hill slope, or a magnetic north alignment.
NEW RESEARCH Portions of the original hill top cemetery may have survived the ravages of urbanization, and state of the art digital aerial photography and LIDAR topographic modeling shows cracks and depressions in the now paved site consistent soil conditions for rows of graves.
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The theory that balloon mappers from the Gowanus Canal Conservancy explored in 2012 was that the different soil compaction from digging graves or covering grave mounds with cobbles would have caused cracks to appear on the concrete slabs covering the trenches as trucks drove over them.
“The burial trenches used to run in this direction. I think there were 6 of them.”
1956 Henry Wildhack Jr, Trench sketch from 1956 Survey
The 1956 National Parks Survey quoted local resident Henry Wildhack Jr. who remembered finding bones and metal fragments while playing among the rows of burial trenches that stretched up the hill. These would have stretched from 8th to 9th Street, the focus area of the Marylander Green site below.
2010 Aerial showing Trench area, Moses Plan and New Park
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Henry Wildhack Jr, then aged 11, in a 1905 Newspaper photo of the 1897 Marylander Plaque that was on the sidewalk of Third Avenue near 8th Street
In 1947, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses had a rough sketch proposal for a Memorial Park drawn up, (shown in red overlay on this 2010 aerial) but lack of funds prevented implementation. Robert Moses, Park Planner
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Arnold Newman / Getty Images / W.W. Norton
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Brooklyn Citizen Science at work: 7 July 2012 – Grassroots Mapping aerial of the 170 8th Street “New Park” Site showing an unusual crack pattern; a Grassroots Mapper is simulating space a buried body would occupy.
The Gowanus Canal Conservancy / Public Lab “Over My Dead Body” Balloon Aerial Photography Mapping Team was a citizen led effort by local community groups to find out more about vacant sites in the Gowanus Watershed that would be suitable for new open spaces. High resolution balloon photography allows for previously unnoticed details to prompt further questions. “Grassroots Mapping” aims to find meaningful data that can help contribute to civic discourse.
The Over My Dead Body Team: Liz Barry, Gena Wirth, Leif Percifield, Eymund Diegel, Sara Dabbs (photographer) 13
July 2012 Balloon “Concrete Crack” Aerial overlaid with 1” topographic contours derived from 2010 NYC LIDAR Digital Elevation Model for the 170 8th Street Site
In the above aerial of the 170 8th Street site, taken from a balloon, Grassroots Mapper Liz Barry demonstrates the space occupied by a grave. Next to her in blue are one inch topographic contours derived from the New York City 2010 LIDAR model.
Curiosity about the unusual balloon photograph crack patterns prompted Eymund Diegel to work with Jarlath O’Neill Dunne, a specialist in LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging). Airplanes with LIDAR use high resolution lasers to map minor fluctuations in the terrain elevation.
New York City had just flown a LIDAR digital elevation model (DEM) for the whole city in 2010. This model has a vertical accuracy of a quarter inch. This previously unheard of accuracy allows for minor topographic fluctuations to be highlighted and to pick up clues to slight mounding or depressions on otherwise seemingly flat surfaces.
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Preliminary tests using the LIDAR data shows an unusual one inch fluctuation in the elevation of the concrete slab - hinting at either sub surface colonial building foundations, burial trenches or sloppy concrete work.
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ONE INCH TOPOGRAPHIC MAP OF MARYLANDER HILL SITE using 2010 LIDAR high resolution digital elevation model data. A Gowanus Canal Conservancy “Over My Dead Body” Balloon Aerial allows you to compare the scale of a human body with unusual bumps.
The LIDAR model flown by the City gives clues to the archaeological history the 170 8th Street lot by mapping minor height fluctuations on the cement slab. A pattern of mounds and depressions appears, which may just be old building footings or sloppy concrete work. Their scale and proportions eerily resemble cobble covered tombs. The mounds roughly follow the “magnetic north” grave orientation of early Christian burial layouts. This layout also matches the Wildhack description in the 1956 Archaeology report, accounting for Marylander Hill’s curvature as shown on the Sproule Map.
The questions of what lies under the concrete slab should be resolved by a subsurface archaeological investigation. 15
FIELD VERIFIED:
“bump” pattern was measured on site and found to be accurate
WHAT OTHER ARGUMENTS ARE THERE FOR COMMEMORATING THE SITE AS A PARK ? 4TH AVE REZONING: MORE PEOPLE
GOWANUS REZONING 1400 new housing units by 2020
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2010 Population Density within half a mile of proposed Marylander site showing lack of open space
What residents currently have access to: 10 square feet per person
Amount of Open Space per Resident that CEQR City Guidelines call for:100 square feet per person
CURRENT NEED FOR NEW OPEN SPACE FOR EXISTING AND PROJECTED RESIDENTS
This site is a unique opportunity for State and City authorities to restore a commemorative site honoring veterans of America’s 1776 War of Independence and at the same time meet the open space and environmental needs of the growing Park Slope, Sunset Park and Gowanus residential neighborhoods. As per 2010 Census, 8965 people lived within a 1000 feet of the Marylander site.
City standards call for them to have 76 acres of open space. As of 2012, those residents only had access to 6.57 acres.
MORE PEOPLE WILL LIVE HERE Within the Marylander sites half mile radius, the City has upzoned the density for 4th Avenue, with multiple apartment buildings under construction. The Gowanus Canal waterfront has 1400 new residential units planned. With the new hotel rezonings, Gowanus is now a tourism destination, which can be enhanced by developing the areas historical assets.
The New York City Planning Standards outlined in the 2010 City Environmental Quality Review Technical Manual encourage a standard of 2.5 acres of open space within half a mile for every 1000 residents. In 2010, 30,476 people live within half a mile of the Marylander site and around 4600 students.
Because of the residential upzoning, the City needs to provide more open space for new
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residents
THE NEW PARK WOULD BE PART OF THE BROADER REVITALIZATION OF THE WATERSHED
EXISTING OPEN SPACE PROPOSALS
Marylander Green would be a prototype for establishing New York City as the center for America’s Revolution and innovative practices to meet growing environmental challenges.
In August 2013 the first phase of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy’s plan for a network of green spaces to protect the water quality of the Canal was approved. The Sponge Park Plan by dlandstudio is part of a broader vision for the watershed looking at ways sustainable open space practices can enhance the neighborhood’s livability.
The Old Stone House’s pioneering work in promoting a walking guide to the watershed’s historical assets would be reinforced by a coherent watershed plan designing the City’s history into an integrated storm water and recreational greenway system.
This Revolutionary Greenway Heritage Trail would tie the past to its promising future.
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Sherrell Dorsey, 2013
2013 - Mayor Bloomberg at the unveiling of new Gowanus Canal Flushing Tunnel infrastructure as part of the first steps needed to meet the watershed’s environmental restoration goals.
IT COULD HELP CITY MEET FEDERALLY MANDATED POLLUTION REDUCTION GOALS
2012 - Ate Atema Architects “Street Creek” Concept - a sustainable technique for reducing Gowanus sewer overflows and improving livability of New York City streets by integrating street landscapes and water sensitive urban design new parks.
The Gowanus Canal Conservancy has been spearheading watershed planning efforts to explore ideas for improving the Brooklyn’s waterfronts environmental health. This includes understanding techniques for diverting rainwater out of the streets overloaded sewer systems, and back to more “natural” water sensitive urban designs, such as Play Pump parks and “street creeks”.
Kids Merry-gorounds pump stored rainwater
Play Pump Water Plan
The proposed Marylander Park would be a flagship site for integrating such innovative techniques for improving our neighborhoods.
MARYLANDER WATERSHED
As part of the 2013 Gowanus Watershed Plan, under development, rainwater flows that cause sewage pollution are being modeled. Because many of the City’s playgrounds were built on damp land and buried streams, there is an opportunity to install rainwater catchment cisterns under City parks and playgrounds, Children playing on merry-go-round pumps would bring the water back out to Green Streets after the storm. Though potentially restricted by burial sites, the proposed Marylander Park site has an excellent watershed catchment area. Cheaper rain tanks would avoid more expensive federally mandated sewer tanks in the Gowanus flood zone. 18
from Georgia Fraser’s 1909 “The Old Stone House” 1776 “Tobacco” currency used to pay Continental Army Soldiers 2012 “Available” Sign for 170 8th Street from the Gowanus Canal Conservancy “Over My Dead Body” Expedition
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ?
PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE: $ 6.5 MILLION
A detailed cost estimate is outside of the scope of this proposal and would be prepared by qualified property assessors, park planners and the property owners once further Federal State and City support for the Memorial Park Planning Commission has developed. Approximate figures given here are for general discussion only. For the purposes of cost estimates, two Park development scenarios are being studied. The Memorial Park Scenario One is the immediate one being proposed for funding.
started on the future role of the Veterans parking lot and the 203 9th Street lot. The focus would be on their potential archaeological value as further grave repositories, and how these sites could support operations park operations, such as accommodating school tour groups and a future museum. This hypothetical land scenario could totals 20,485 square feet (ft2) or $7.2 million in land costs, and would be coordinated with existing Battle of Brooklyn exhibits at the Old Stone House.
MEMORIAL PARK SCENARIO ONE: Acquisition of
Gowanus Property values have been climbing, ranging from $350 per ft2 to $550 for vacant lots and abandoned industrial spaces. The 170 8th Street lot has been abandoned for decades, and being a former chemical factory site and with it’s reputation as a sensitive archaeological site it faces development restrictions.
the vacant 170 8th Street 13,500 feet square (ft2) vacant lot, the site with the most archaeological and commemorative potential. LAND ACQUISITION At $350 per ft2, the 170 8th Street lot’s land acquisition costs is estimated at around $4.75 million.
PARK COSTS The High Line, currently one of the most expensive and successful urban parks in New York is 296,000 ft2 and cost $172 million, or $580 per ft2. Marylander Green Park, if designed to a similar level, would cost $12 million. In contrast, the price for the recently approved 15,000 ft2 Second Street Gowanus Sponge Park is $1.5 million or $100 per ft2. This would put the 20,000 ft2 Marylander Green Park construction costs in the $1.5 to 2 million range. Final costs would be a function of the design competition proposal and what Federal, State, City and community stakeholders decide is appropriate to commemorate America’s First Veterans. These stakeholders would set up a Planning Commission who would develop detailed planning and Park development contracts. This Commission would require additional funding as a percentage of the final park cost.
SITE INVESTIGATIONS To establish the archaeological value of the site, it will be necessary to clear it of it’s cement covering. Site clearing: This will cost around $50,000 for concrete removal. As the site’s eventual park plan would conform to LEED sustainability development standards, this cost would be lower as removed concrete slabs would be stored on site for eventual reusing in park landforming. This would also protect the archaeological site during incremental investigation. Final costs will be a function of contractor bids. Archaeological investigations: Preliminary site survey estimate: $50,000 This would include the hiring of a professional team of archaeologists to do a preliminary excavation survey. See the Appendix for the typical tasks that would be covered. Expanded archaeological costs and further studies would be a function of the preliminary survey findings. If no military relics are found, for example, if graves have been relocated, or if cemetery is a colonial one of early farmers and slaves, then the site would become a Battle of Brooklyn park on a purely commemorative basis. The Memorial Park Scenario One including new Park construction is estimated to cost around $6.5 million. (see Appendix for details)
COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP SCENARIO Assuming Federal, State or City acquisition of the site, an immediate alternate scenario would be to work with existing local community stewards such as the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and the Old Stone House to preserve the site and develop the site as an interim open space within the much lower cost parameters of the City’s Citizen’s Participatory Budget system.
HYPOTHETICAL MUSEUM SCENARIO TWO:
If the Archaeological Investigation finds the Marylander graves, then an expanded park will be considered. Working with the America Legion directives, a discussion would be
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This would protect the site from imminent redevelopment threats and allow a phased and incremental memorial park and education space, meeting budget constraints and community needs.
COMPETING USES FOR THE SITE. In 2012 the New School Construction Authority considered the site for a school for Park Slope’s growing student population. It retained TRC Senior Project Manager Charles Guder to do soil borings on the site and it retained Elizabeth Meade of AKRF Archaeological Consultants to review the historical significance of the site. Results of the investigation are still being compiled.
New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection Green Infrastructure Plan Under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Gowanus Canal Superfund Cleanup Program the City of New York is being asked to provide $78 million in necessary sewer tank infrastructure improvements to prevent toxic overflows to the Canal. The City is challenging that decision. The City’s Green Infrastructure Plan is being presented as a more sustainable opportunity, opening the possibility of integrating Marylander Park with a lower cost system of better storm water management for the upslope sections of the Gowanus watershed.
Because of it’s proximity to the desirable Park Slope neighborhood, and it’s strategic location between the 4th Avenue residential densification corridor and the emerging Gowanus Third Avenue entertainment and restaurant district, the site is a prime candidate for high density residential development.
New York City Dept of Park’s & Recreation / City Parks Foundation Partners New York City has teamed up with community organizations to improve open spaces for New Yorkers. Both the Trust for Public Land and the New York Restoration Project have funded open space improvements in the Gowanus Watershed.
FUNDING SOURCES If an archaeological investigation finds the site to hold remains of Battle of Brooklyn soldiers, it would legally become a federal military cemetery.
American Missing Soldiers Fund The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) is responsible for recovering and preserving the remains of America’s soldiers. Though focused on more recent wars, it has dealt with Civil War and Revolutionary War remains. As America’s First Federal Military Cemetery, the site warrants special consideration.
New York City Dept of Cultural Affairs is the largest cultural funding agency in the nation, and supports Battle of Brooklyn commemoration events and programs.
Brooklyn Arts Council supports Arts and Media related to history and cultural outreach
American Battlefields Protection Program This National Park Service program supports projects that protect battlefields and sites associated with battle fields, but does not fund land acquisition or capital improvement projects. In 2011, Senator Charles E. Schumer promoted United States legislation S.916 to promote the purchase of threatened Continental Army sites in New York State.
Private and Corporate Donors A number of private and community groups have stepped forward to support open space and commemorative projects in the Watershed
Brooklyn Community Foundation Green Communities Fund has funded the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative. Powerhouse Environmental Arts Foundation recently acquired the Dentons Mill site, another suspected Revolutionary War soldier burial ground, adjacent to the First Street Gowanus Canal Basin.
Maryland Historic Trust As most of the soldiers interred at the proposed Park site were from the Maryland Regiment, State of Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has written a letter offering support for proper commemoration of the Marylander’s role in the American Revolution. New York State Council for the Arts supports the Old Stone House commemoration programs and the expansion of their cultural activities.
Many other groups and individuals will step forward as Brooklyn’s Revolutionary Park takes shape. 20
STAKEHOLDERS & COMMUNITY DIRECTORY Below are people or organizations who have worked on Marylander Park research or have contributed to our discussion of Brooklyn cultural arts and open space issues. Their name here in no way implies support of this proposal and are purely contacts for people seeking further comment and research discussion. This list is in no ways complete, and is being continously expanded as part of the Marylander Memorial Committee’s outreach efforts. You can contact Eymund Diegel - eymund@gmail.com to be added to this outreach directory and be notified of plan developments. ARCHAEOLOGISTS Chrysalis Archaeology - www.chrysalisarchaeology.com Chris Ricciardi -cricciardi@chrysalisarchaeology.com Alyssa Loorya - aloorya@chrysalisarchaeology.com - did Marylander Research for FROGG in 2012
Proteus Gowanus http://proteusgowanus.org/ - organize Battle of Brooklyn themed art events and run the Hall of the Gowanus, a community digital historical resource archive info@proteusgowanus.org Sasha Chavchavadze - sashachav@gmail.com Angela Kramer - krangela64@gmail.com Tamara Pittman - tamarappittman@gmail.com Eymund Diegel - eymund@gmail.com Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus (FROGG) http://froggbrooklyn.org/ - works to protect its industrial heritage and support its innovative and creative future. Recently completed a major industrial and historical values study of the Gowanus. Marlene Donnely - studio460@msn.com Linda Mariano - joeandlinda393@aol.com
Brooklyn Preservation Council http://brooklynheightsblog.com/ promoting the Brooklyn Heritage Trail and preservation of Brooklyn historical sites, writing books on the Marylander Burial Site and the American Revolution Bob Furman - bobfurman1@hotmail.com Buddy Scotto - livery2000@aol.com Eymund Diegel - eymund@gmail.com
AKRF Cultural Resources - www.akrf.com Elizabeth Meade - emeade@akrf.com - Marylander Research for School Construction Authority in 2013 Hunter Research - www.hunterresearch.com Patrick Harshbarger - pharshbarger@hunterresearch.com - did Marylander Research for the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2012
Global Gazeteer of the American Revolution http://gaz.jrshelby.com/ - collects and archives research material pertaining to the Battle of Brooklyn and the American Revolution John Robertson - rwmapper@gmail.com
US Army Corps of Engineers Lynn Rakos - lrakos@hotmail.com , RCSIAprez@aol.com - has done research on historically sensitive sites around the Gowanus Canal
Joseph Alexiou - joseph.alexiou@gmail.com http://www.josephalexiou.com/ - writing book on history of the Gowanus Canal
Brooklyn College - Anthropology & Archaeology Arthur Bankoff - abankoff brooklyn.cuny.edu - did Marylander Research on 8th Street site area in 1998
COMMUNITY GROUPS Gowanus Canal Conservancy www.gowanuscanalconservancy.org The Conservancy facilitates the environmental health of the Gowanus Canal and its watershed by serving as a trusted resource and guiding the vision and transformation of the watershed with respect for the history of the community. Hans Hesselein - hans@gowanuscanalconservancy.org Andy Simons - andy@gowanuscanalconservancy.org
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Amanda Sutphin, Director of Archaeology asutphin@lpc.nyc.gov - reviews and promotes historical and archaeological research on Gowanus watershed development projects
Hunter College Anthropology Department William J Parry - wparry@hunter.cuny.edu - does Battle of Brooklyn research with the Old Stone House, and southern 10th Street sections of Marylander Hill.
Brooklyn Borough Historian Ron Schweiger - bklynremembered@aol.com HISTORICAL RESEARCH GROUPS
Brooklyn Historical Society - maintain archival resources and organize events on Brooklyn history Jacob Nadal - jnadal@brooklynhistory.org Jim Rossman - jimrossman@nyc.rr.com Bill Coleman - wrcoleman@gmail.com,
The Old Stone House www.theoldstonehouse.org - organize archives and events related to the Battle of Brooklyn and Marylander commemoration Kim Maier - oldstonehouse@verizon.net Peter Joseph - peterljoseph@gmail.com
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Gowanus Alliance www.gowanusalliance.org - Local property owners and businesses promoting the enhancement and development of the Gowanus Neighborhood, including the improvements of it’s open spaces, in particular Ennis Playground. Paul Basile - gowanusalliance@gmail.com
Gowanus By Design www.gowanusbydesign.com Gowanus by Design is a community-based non-profit urban design advocacy. Working with the area’s stakeholders Gbd organizes design competitions to visualize the areas potential. David Briggs - dbriggs@gowanusbydesign.com Anthony Deen - Adeen@gowanusbydesign.com Friends of Sunset Park http://friendsofsunsetpark-brooklyn.blogspot.com - promotes neighborhood quality of life issues in Sunset Park Maria Roca - friendsofsunsetpark@yahoo.com
United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park - UPROSE www.uprose.org Elizabeth Yeampierre - Info@UPROSE.org
Park Slope Neighbors www.parkslopeneighbors.org - A neighborhood organization committed to the protection and enhancement of quality of life in Park Slope, Brooklyn Eric McClure - eric@parkslopeneighbors.org 8th Street Block Association Association of residents living around the Marylander site Julius Lang - - juliuslang@gmail.com Kathryn Krase - katkrase@aol.com (also on Brooklyn Preservation Council) American Legion Rawley Veterans Post 1636 Veterans Post adjacent to the Marylander Burial Ground Philip J Dugan - (718) 788-3499 Peter DeAngelis - pjdeangelis@gmail.com MEDIA WHO COVER GOWANUS HISTORY ISSUES
Gary Buiso - GBuiso@nypost.com - NY Post writer writing on Marylanders B’klyn hunt for sprit of 1776 soldiers - 2012 Justin Burke - jburke@sorosny.org - NY Times writer and Gowanus resident covering Battle of Brooklyn events Seeking Brooklyn’s Lost Mass Grave - 2012 Madeline Gordon - mrgordon88@gmail.com Philip Shane - drhundertwasser@mac.com - doing ongoing documentary on Marylanders and community efforts to find them. Matt Koed - bdkpictures@yahoo.com - documentary film maker interested in doing Marylander Archaeology documentary as dig develops. Katia Kelly - pardonmeinbrooklyn@gmail.com - Pardon Me For Asking blog which covers neighborhood history issues Benjamin Aufill - GowanusYourFaceOff@gmail.com - Gowanus Your Face Off blog, which has covered Marylander Burial Ground developments The Dead May Have Been Awoken - 2012 The proposed Marylander Green Memorial Park is in: - Brooklyn Community District 306 - City Council District 38 - Sara M. González - NY Assembly District 51 - Felix W. Ortiz - NY Senate District 25 - Velmanette Montgomery - Congressional 12th District - Nydia Margarita Velázquez - US Senate District - Chuck Schumer
POLITICAL STAKEHOLDERS Brooklyn Craig Hammerman, Brooklyn Community Board 6 districtmanager@brooklyncb6.org Jerry Armer, CB6 contact on Archaeology issues at Superfund Community Advisory Group - jjarmer@yahoo.com Kevin Jeffrey, Brooklyn Parks Commissioner kevin.jeffrey@parks.nyc.gov Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President marty@brooklynbp.nyc.gov Elizabeth Koch, Borough Arts & Culture ekoch@brooklynbp.nyc.gov 22
New York City Michael Bloomberg, Mayor mbloomberg@cityhall.nyc.gov Christine Quinn, NYC Council Speaker cquinn@council.nyc.gov Sarah M. Gonzáles, District 38 Councilperson sgonzalez@council.nyc.gov Stephen T. Levin, District 33 Councilperson SLevin@council.nyc.gov Lisa Bloodgood, Community Liason district33pb@gmail.com Brad Lander, District 39 Councilperson CLander@council.nyc.gov Jonah Blumstein, Community Liaison jblumstein@council.nyc.gov Veronica White, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation Commissioner veronicawhite@parks.nyc.gov Carter Strickland, New York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner cstrickland@dep.nyc.gov Gary Kline, NYSDEC, Water, NYC Municipal Compliance gekline@gw.dec.state.ny.us Felix W. Ortiz, New York State Assemblyperson (51) ortizf@assembly.state.ny.us Joan Millman, New York State Assemblyperson (52) millmaj@assembly.state.ny.us New York State Marty Golden, New York State Senator golden@nysenate.gov Eric Adams, New York State Senator (20) eadams@senate.state.ny.us Kevin S. Parker ,New York State Senator (21) parker@senate.state.ny.us Velmanette Montgomery, New York State Senator (25) montgome@senate.state.ny.us Daniel L. Squadron, New York State Senator (26) squadron@senate.state.ny.us Philip A. Perazio, New York State Div. for Historic Preservation Philip.Perazio@oprhp.state.ny.us Christina B. Rieth, New York State Museum crieth@mail.nysed.gov State of Maryland Martin O’ Malley, Governor, State of Maryland http://www.governor.maryland.gov/mail/ US Federal Agencies United States Environmental Protection Agency Christos Tsiamis, Gowanus Canal Superfund Site tsiamis.christos@epa.gov National Parks Service, Archaeology Program DCA@nps.gov Lee Tucker. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Pao_mail@jpac.pacom.mil US Senate Chuck Schumer Nicholas_Martin@schumer.senate.gov Kirsten Gillibrand sam_cooper@Gillibrand.senate.gov US Congress Nydia Margarita Velázquez Nydia.Velazquez@mail.house.gov Dan Wiley, Community Liason Daniel.Wiley@mail.house.gov Barack Hussein Obama www.whitehouse.gov/contact former Park Slope resident, and descendent of the Wright family, several of whose members participated in the Battle of Brooklyn, and may be buried at the Marylander site.
REFERENCES
ARCHIVES Brooklyn Historical Society Battle of Long Island, Maryland soldiers memorial collection, 1869 – 1957 Marylander Mass Grave Archive 2013 John Robertson BOOKS Historical Orientation Report for Archaeological Investigation, Marylanders’ Burial Site, Brooklyn, New York, by the U.S. National Parks Service 1956
The Maryland 400 at the Cortelyou House, Brooklyn; The Action and Burial Site, US National Park Service Report to Congress 21 May 1957 The Maryland 400 In The Battle Of Long Island, 1776 by Linda Davis Reno, McFarland Publishers, 2008 The Battle of Brooklyn, 1776 by John J. Gallagher, Da Capo Press, 1995
The Battle of Brooklyn, August 27-29,1776 A Walking Guide to Sites and Monuments by The Old Stone House and Washington Park, 2012
Forgotten Patriots: the Untold Story of American Prisoners during the Revolutionary War by Edwin G. Burrows, (2008) The Wallabout Prison-Ships, 1776- 1783 Armbruster, Eugene, (1920)
Guide Book, to the Noted Places on Long Island, Historical and otherwise by Armbruster, Eugene, (1925) Col. Atlee’s Journal of the Battle of Long Island, August 26, 1776 by Samuel John. Atlee in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, pp.509-516. 1879
Brooklyn’s Neglected Battle Ground by Charles M. Higgins, 1910
The Campaign of 1776 Around New York and Brooklyn by Henry P. Johnston, Brooklyn, 1878
Life at the Old Stone House: A History of a Farm and its Occupants by William Parry, Brooklyn, 2000
The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution by Barnet Schecter, 2002.
A History of the City of Brooklyn by Henry R. Stiles, 1867
The Social History of Flatbush: Manners and Customs of the Dutch Settlers in Kings County by Gertrude Lefferts Vanderbilt, 1881.
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The Old Stone House by Georgia Fraser, 1909
Historic and Antiquarian Scenes in Brooklyn, by TW Fields 1868
Archaeological Sensitivity Study - Gowanus Canal USEPA / Hunter Research, James Lee, Patrick Harshbarger, Richard Hunter, 2012
The Marylander Burial Ground by Robert Furman, 2012 FILMS The Brave Man, Directed by Joseph McCarthy, 2002 Brave Man Curriculum Guide NEWSPAPER & WEB ARTICLES The Battle of Brooklyn The Most Forlorn Military Gravesite in the Nation Baltimore Sun, Frank D. Roylance, 1886 Brooklyn's Unknown Soldiers: The Long, Uncertain Search for the Maryland Dead The Phoenix, Robert E. Murphy,1998 1776 Graves Site Elusive In B'klyn New York Daily News, Robert Fisk, 1998 Fire Sparks Focus On Rebel War Graves New York Daily News, Bob Liff, 1998 Washington Fought Here; Who Knew?; On 225th Anniversary, Battle of Brooklyn Is Little-Known Chapter New York Times, Elliott Rebhun, 2001 Urban Environmentalist NYC: Slope-Gowanus Burial Ground Revealed Bobgusskind.com Ruth Edebohls, 2008 Two Groups To Help Lay Historic Trail Daily News, Bill Farrell, 2012 A Precious Hour in American History - The Maryland 400 at Long Island, Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs, Tom Milmore, 2012 The British Invasion… Again: The Mystery Of The Missing Marylanders' Grave The Awl, Robert Sullivan 2012 Ausgegraben - Neues aus der Archäologie Looking For Brooklyn’s Lost Marylander Grave Der Spiegel, Angelika Franz, 2012 (in German) La Bataille de Long Island Battle of Long Island Toy solder simulation by the Bourg en Bresse Youth History Games Club (in French and English) Gli Inglesi Stanno Arrivando ! (The British are Coming) Battle of Long Island wargame simulation (In Italian and English) LIDAR and Archaeological Mapping LIDAR Technology:With Flyovers, a Solar Map of New York New York Times, Mireya Navarro, 2012 Revolutionizing Archaeology: Flying Lasers Reveal Buried Historical Structures Der Spiegel, Markus Becker, 2012 Grassroots Mapping techniques for finding Marylander Gowanus Grave Sites Eymund Diegel, GEONYC 2013 Meetup
SOLDIERS IN THE BATTLE OF BROOKLYN
This is only a partial list.
A comprehensive review of regimental records and casualty lists will be part of the Marylander Park Memorial Project
Maryland Soldiers at the Battle of Long Island, August 1776 Courtesy Battle of Long Island Memorial Committee MARYLAND 400 Major Mordecai Gist Commanding
First Company John Hoskins Stone, Captain Daniel Bowie, 1st Lt. John Kidd, 2nd Lt. James Ferandis, Sgt. John Mitchell, Sgt. Samuel Jones, Sgt. Charles Smith, Sgt. Thomas Simpson, Corporal William Courts, Cadet Henry Ridgely, Cadet James Sims, Sr., Corporal Samuel Hanson, Corporal Samuel McPherson, Corporal Henry Walworth, Drummer Dennis Broderick, Fifer Privates Andrew Ross Lindsay Andrew Green Sims Thmas Norris Ignatius Doyglass William Smoot Edmund Cox William Wheatly John Boen John Hopson John Adams Thosm. JWay Connell Joseph Cheatham James Thompson Samuel Thompson John Plant Thomas Smith Jonathan Chunn George Thomas James Sims, Jer. Samuel Wheatly Bernard Nash John McPherson Clement Edelen Patrick Brady
John Wiley James Adams Hugh Tomlin Amos Green Christr. Brumbargher Thomas Simpkins Elisha Everit Thos Conner John Russel John Edelin Danl. Rankins James Perry Richard Cox Joseph Steward Thomas Walsh John Walker Chas. Burroughs Philip Jinkins Ben. Burroughs Francis Thompson Francis Osborno Michael Barnitt Willm. Skipper Willm. Heyder Philip King Richd Johnson John Veach Patrick Nowland Moses McNew Jacob Penn James Byzch Ben. Bermillion Ricd. Lowe Robt. Neslon Basil Ridgly Michael Waltz Willm. Evans John Grant Paul Hagarty Elias Perry Veach Burgis Jacob Holland Middleton Marlow John d. Lanham John Mills Thos. Perkins Henry Lanham Edward Blacklock John Rodery Robt. Sapp Thos. Daws Edmd. Carroll Edwd. Jones
Francis Sherhard Samuel Kurk Francis Green Baggot Charles Green Charles Griffin John Ward Richard Sheake Edward Edelen Samuel Hamilton Franics Ware Luckett Matthew Garner Nathaniel Dowining Josias Miller John Shaw Edward Smith John Norris Joseph Jason Jenkins James Hoge John Neal Luke Matthew Sherburn Samuel Luckitt John Skipper Thomas Burrows Samuel Granger Alban Smith Edward Green John Smith Benjamin Gray Richard Smith John Smoot William Clark John Neary Samuel Vermillion Truman Hilton Gilbert Garland Mark McPherson
Second Company Patk. Sims, Captain Benj. Ford, 1st Lt. John Burgis, Cadet Walter Cox, Cadet John Richardson, Sgt. Peter Clarke, Sgt. Edward Spurrier, Sgt. Alexius Conner, Sgt. John Beans, 2nd Lt. Henry Gaither, Ensign Michael Burgis, Corporal Gazaway Watkins,Corporal John Elson, corporal Henry Leek, Corporal Benj. Lewis, Drummer Thos. Horson, Fifer
Third Company Barton Lucas, Captain Wm. Sterett, 1st Lt. Peter Brown, Sgt. James Burnes, Sgt. Zach. Tannahill, Sgt. Levin Will Coxen, Sgt. Saml Hamiltone, Corporal Alex, Roxburgh, 2nd Lt.
Privates Jonathan Robinson John Lindsay Coxon Talbott Lawrence Queney James Mitchell Peter Gallworth Bozely Wright Milburn Cox
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Wm Ridgely, Ensign Benedict Woodward, Corporal Benjn. Warner, Corporal Zacha. Gray, Corporal Geo. Rex Leonard, Drummer Joshua Saffell, Fifer Privates John Cissell Zacha Tilly Chrstopher Beal Leonard Watkins Thomas Scott Daneil McKAy John Baker John Dunn Abijah Buxtone Nathan Peake Timothy Collins Jeremiah Owings Joseph Barry John Armstrong George Wright Phhillip Weller Hugh Conn Robt. Lesacho John Brown Benjn. Kelly Josias Connally Rody Hously Jmes Murphy George Knott John Enright Thos. Mrray William Pearce Charles Jones Joseah Hattou Richard Stone Sameul Ray George Hamiltone John Fleming John Wood Richard Brookes Zacha. Willing Richard Wade John Jowings Alex. Jackson John Murphy John Jackson John Flint Amos Allen John Hughes Thos. Forguson Obediah Sumers Absolam Stevenson John Halsey Thos. Wi;ndon James Smith George Evauns Thoms Shannen George Leadbarn Michl. Catons James Hurdle Franics Cole
Alex. Allen Wm. Baker Garret Brinkenhoof John Rex Leonard Bazil Jenkins Bartholomew Finn Roddey Owings George Read James Gardiner Patk. Collins Zachariah Hutchins
Sixth Company Peter Adams, Captain Nathl. Ewing, 1st Lt. Joseph Elliott, Sgt. Edqard Edgerly, Sgt. Thomas McKeel, Sgt. Alex. Murray, 2nd Lt. John Jordan Ensign Thoms Dwyer, Sgt. Sanl Swigens, Corporal Saml. Swignes, Corporal Jas. Rogan, Corporal Danl. Floyd, Corporal Robert Ross, Drummer Chas. McKeel, Fifer
Privates Thos. Cooper Saml McCubbin John Clark Zacha. Nicholson Henry Covington Wm Laighton Wm. McDanel George Jackson John Hatton Alex. Wright John Floyd Elijah Floyd Moses Floyd John McFadon Carbry Burn John McClain John Johnson Jas. Kelly Willm. McGregor Thos. Fisher John Powell Joseph Pirkens Joseph Bootman Hugh Wallace Willm. McDaniel II James Boll Henry Clift Wm Glover John Bryan Wm Holms Wm Ray Thos. Laffy Jas. Kirk Wm. Leeson John Lowry John McClain, of Harford Alex. Fulton
Jas. Craig Robert Man Patk. Quigley Wm Locke Wm. Nagle John Lynch Hugh McClain Jas. Carmichael Thos. Williams John Kerby Jas. Gibson Jno. Galway Robt. Ritchie Wm Aitken Hugh Galway John Morrow Geo. Dowling Wm. Clark Wm. Temple John Phelps James Barkely Crisenberry Clift.
Seventh Independent Maryland Company Edward Veazey, Captain William Harrison, 1st Lt. Sameul TurbuttWright, 2nd Lt. Edward DeCourcy, 3rd Lt. W. Sands W. Noyes I Smith S. Floy I Babb R. White I Lowe T. White I Bazil I Jasper W. Johnson Joseph Matthews D Hensely A Ryan WR McKinzie H Weaton C O'Neal E Murphy
W Overton J. Green N Whatkins E Water I Boon T Robinson C Bargber J Nailor T. Mayhew J. Devaun J Mattingly T Weaton N Wakins P Lawless G Leech I Meek W Soweb J Connery R Eldwood I Pope I Manyjors J Yator D Kelliss M Padget E Edwards I Harper J Oarm T Hamilton N O'Neal F Michel I Nottingham W Kemick C Richardson T Gordon I Ashton J Koy Burgess Howard ___ Watts Joseph Anglain Edw James Murphy John Carr
New York Times 18 August 1895 Prisoners List 25
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Pensive on Her Dead Gazing by Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Pensive on her dead gazing I heard the Mother of All, Desperate on the torn bodies, on the forms covering the battlefields gazing, (As the last gun ceased, but the scent of the powder-smoke linger'd,) As she call'd to her earth with mournful voice while she stalk'd, Absorb them well O my earth, she cried, I charge you lose not my sons, lose not an atom, And you streams absorb them well, taking their dear blood, And you local spots, and you airs that swim above lightly impalpable, And all you essences of soil and growth, and you my rivers' depths, And you mountain sides, and the woods where my dear children's blood trickling redden'd, And you trees down in your roots to bequeath to all future trees, My dead absorb or South or North--my young men's bodies absorb, and their precious precious blood, Which holding in trust for me faithfully back again give me many a year hence, In unseen essence and odor of surface and grass, centuries hence, In blowing airs from the fields back again give me my darlings, give my immortal heroes, Exhale me them centuries hence, breathe me their breath, let not an atom be lost, O years and graves! O air and soil! O my dead, an aroma sweet! Exhale them perennial sweet death, years, centuries hence.
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Old and New - The Connection
Fred Plaut, 1955 “The Family of Man” The Museum of Modern Art, New York
It is entirely possible that ground penetrating radar and archaeological excavations of the Marylander site find nothing.
However, as the sole remaining ground that has remained unchanged from the ravages of hill cutting and valley filling, the new Park site should then remain as a symbol of the constancy of memory – that the soldiers who gave their life for America mattered. 29
The Marylander Memorial Committee of the Brooklyn Preservation Council is made up of Eymund Diegel, Bob Furman, Holly Fuchs, Kathryn Krase and Buddy Salvatore Scotto. Research work and advice that went into this proposal stemmed from many invaluable community resources, in particular:
The Gowanus Canal Conservancy www.gowanuscanalconservancy.org Proteus Gowanus http://proteusgowanus.org/
The Old Stone House www.theoldstonehouse.org
Balloon Observation from the childrens book “Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fancy�, by Frank R Stockton, 1910
Public Lab provides Citizen Technology to make local ideas come true.
To find out more how Public Lab can support your community project visit: www.publiclab.org 30
Appendix 1 PROPOSED PARK SITE LOT DESCRIPTIONS & POTENTIAL FUTURE STUDY SITES Based on the latest historical findings, the proposed Marylander Park and archaeological site will be made up of of one key parcels and a potentially 2 other future study parcels:
Study Area Site 2 (continued)
PRINCIPAL PARCEL UNDER CONSIDERATION
Reason for interest: Should archaeological study of Site 1 find Revolutionary War burial relics, study of historical maps indicate possibility that graves as described by Wildhack sketches could have extended across Veterans Parking Lot. Such archaeological findings would also trigger further site studies of lots on opposite side of 9th street near subway bridge, based on studies by William J. Parry.
Former Use: Church, Cemetery Zoning: Commercial, C2-4
Site 1: The Marylander Hill Park Site 170 8th Street, Brooklyn Brooklyn Block 1003 Lot 11
alternate addresses: 197 to 201 9th Street.
Size: 13,500 feet square, 75 feet x 180 feet vacant lot
Proposed Use under study: To be determined. Currently parking for Veterans Post. If Park is developed, discussions and study would be initiated with current owners as to how they would like their existing commemorative structures to be integrated with the new Park design. This could include redesign of lot to facilitate periodic school bus access for student tour groups and commemorative activities.
Ownership: Derby Textile Corp / the Fried Family
Estimated NYC Dept of Finance land value : $1,620,000 Estimated market value: $4,750,000 Former Use: Knitting Mill, Chemical Factory, Cemetery Zoning: Residential Vacant Land R6A, R6B
Study Area Site 3
Proposed Use: Memorial Park and playground
203 9th Street, Brooklyn
Depending on results of archaeological survey, two other sites have been flagged for being of potential historical and logistical interest.
Brooklyn Block 1003 Lot 59,
A one story 4,545 industrial building (50.5 x 90 ft)
Any proposals developed for these sites would be entirely driven by the current property owners’ interests.
Ownership: 203 9th Street Associates Current Use: Parking
Study Area Site 2
Estimated NYC Dept of Finance land value : $1,000,878 (not market value)
193 9th Street, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Block 1003 Lot 64
Reason for interest: Park Maintenance support facility, Museum, Industrial History or Cultural Community Center, potentially archaeologically sensitive site.
American Legion / Rawley Veterans Post 1636 Parking Lot
Size: Total for Veterans lot: 40.75 x 180 feet, or 7335 ft 2, 4278 ft 2 for parking lot (40.75 x 105 feet)
Proposed Use under study: Environmental Stewardship Center for local groups such as the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Gowanus Alliance and other local community groups as part of Marylander Park Maintenance Plan.
Ownership: MA Rawley Junior Veterans Post
Estimated Value: $919,671 (NYCDOF), lot plus building) (not market value)
Zoning: R6A
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Appendix 2 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT BUDGET: MARYLANDER MEMORIAL PARK Costs: Preliminary Rough Estimate:
$ 6.5 Million
1. Land Acquisition: 13,500 Sq. ft. 170 Eighth Street (191-201 Ninth Street) based on prevailing area rates of $350/sq.ft) (1) 2. Archaeological Study (2)
3. Concrete Removal 4. Construction Costs (3) NYS/NYC 5. Overhead Charge (@ 20%) (4)
Projected Funding Source:
$4,750.000
Commonwealth of Maryland
$50,000 $1,350,000
New York City / New York State New York City / New York State
$47,400
$280,000
Total
$6,477,400
Total New York State / NYC Costs
$1,727.400
Footnotes
1. Additional property may be added.
2. Preliminary examination. Courtesy of Chrysalis Archaeology. Discovery of human remains will require an additional complex study along with decisions about disposition and possible relocation.
3. Estimated at $100.00/sq.ft. as per 2nd Street Sponge Park construction costs.
4. Rough budget estimate for a Marylander Park Planning Commission made up of stakeholders for design, planning and construction management
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New York City / New York State
New York City / New York State Maryland / NYS / NYC
New York City / New York State
Appendix 3
DESCRIPTION OF TYPICAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION TASKS Task Descriptions of a typical Archaeological Investigation process were provided by Chrysalis Archaeological Consultants and are provided for discussion and estimate purposes only.
Remains of a soldiers mass grave being excavated in Lutzen Germany. This lost grave contains some of the 6000 casualties of the 1632 Battle of Lutzen, a conflict of Europe’s 30 Year War. Soldiers and mercenaries from Scotland, England, Croatia, Germany, Austria, Finland and Sweden all fought in the battle. The bodies were discovered next to a supermarket in 2011. Clues to the Thirty Years War: Mass Grave Begins Revealing Soldiers’ Secrets, by Christoph Seidler, Der Spiegel 33
August 2013 Re:
Proposal - Phase IB –Archaeological Testing for the potential Marylander Burial Site
Thank you for requesting a Phase IB – Archaeological Testing Proposal for the property between 8th and 9th Avenue and 3rd Avenue and 4th Avenue in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York and the potential Marylander Burial Site. Chrysalis is a fully licensed and insured, certified Small, Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Business (DBE/WBE) within the City and State of New York. Chrysalis is listed on the approved list of Cultural Resource Management (CRM) firms for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NY SHPO) and the City of New York - Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and meets all the requirements of the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation, 1983 (48 FR 44716) as amended. Our principals are all members of the Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA). The purpose of Phase IB Archaeological Testing is to determine if any significant physical or cultural remains are present, in this instance of the Marylander Burial’s Site, and/or to uncover evidence if the burials had been located within the site at some time in the past. All work will be conducted in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, as amended, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s “Protection of Historic and Cultural Properties” (36 CFR 800), the New York State Historic Preservation Act (SHPA), New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NY SHPO) guidelines (New York Archaeological Council [NYAC] 1994; 2000; 2002), and the (New York) City Environmental Quality Review Act (CEQRA) regulations regarding archaeological investigations and that may, potentially, involve human remains. The following tasks will be required and are considered part of this Scope of Work (SOW): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Review available documentation and mapping resources Develop an Archaeological Testing and Human Remains Plan Archaeological Testing Potential Laboratory Analysis for any recovered material remains Writing and Production, a Draft and Final Report Additional Cultural Resource Management related tasks dependent on the results associated with the testing
New York 4110 Quentin Road Brooklyn, NY 11234-4322 Phone: 718.645.3962
Rhode Island One Richmond Square – Suite 121F Providence, RI 02906-5139 Phone: 401.499.4354 info@chrysalisarchaeology.com www.chrysalisarchaeology.com
Field Work/Personnel: Alyssa Loorya, M.A., MPhil., R.P.A., President, will serve as the Principal Investigator. Christopher Ricciardi, Ph.D., R.P.A., will serve as the Project Manager. Our Field Directors and Technicians have several years of experience within the region and are either R.P.A. or R.P.A. Certifiable. Principal Investigator: Project Manager: Field Director: Lab Director: Field Technician(s):
Alyssa Loorya, M.A, MPhil., R.P.A. Christopher Ricciardi, Ph.D., R.P.A. Anthony McNichol, M.A., R.P.A. Eileen Kao Staff (as required)
Chrysalis has the following on call specialists: Dr. Sophia Perdikaris and Matthew Brown, M.A., MPhil., Physical/Forensic Anthropologist; Meta Janowitz, Ph.D. and Mara Katkins, M.A., Material Culture and Gary McGowan, M.A., Conservator. Due to the nature of this project, certain assumptions are being made as part of this proposal. If these assumptions are incorrect, or circumstances change, the proposal may require revisions to reflect the new information. Assumption 01: The site will be prepped and “ready� for the archaeologists to conduct the Phase IB Field Testing. The test areas will have the concrete and/or asphalt already removed from site or placed in an area where testing will not occur. Chrysalis, working in conjunction with the larger project will identify test areas and provide a map of these areas to facilitate surface removals. Surface removal will be undertaken by a contractor hired by the project. Assumption 02: It is estimated that several feet of land fill are on this property and will require removal before archaeological testing of historic soils can occur. The project will arrange for the mechanical removal of these materials. Chrysalis will monitor their removal. Assumption 03: The exposed site will be shored or sloped per OSHA regulations to ensure a safe excavation area. It is assumed that the contractor hired to remove the concrete and land fill will also complete this task. Assumption 04: The use of a Geo-Archaeologist, if engaged by this project, will have completed their work prior to commencement of soil removals and the Phase IB Field Test. A Geo-Archaeologist can help determine the amount of the land fill prior to excavation. Chrysalis can arrange for these services, if requested. Assumption 05: Any in situ complete, partial or fragmentary human remains and/or disturbed human remains uncovered, will not be removed from site during the Phase IB Test. In the event of such a discovery, a Human Remains Testing Protocol, to be developed by Chrysalis, will be enacted.
Assumption 06: Field work will require approximately, or up to, two weeks (10 days). Aside from the Principal Investigator the fieldwork will include a Field Director and up to three Field Technicians. Field Work: Field Work will include the gridding of the property, excavating in a checkered pattern throughout the grid in 2x2 meter squared trenches to expose the stratigraphic levels of the soil. All soils will be screened and materials kept for laboratory analysis. Any potential human remain(s) will be treated following the Human Remains Protocol developed by Chrysalis. Reporting: Chrysalis will prepare draft and final versions of the Phase IB Archaeological Testing Plan and IB Testing Report. All comments on the draft report will be addressed prior to the finalization of the final report. If artifacts are recovered, they are the property of the property owner and will be returned to said owner upon completion of the project. The artifacts will be bagged, recorded and placed in archival storage boxes. Schedule: Chrysalis is prepared to begin the project within two weeks of the Notice To Proceed/Project Kick-Off Meeting. If you have any questions with regard to this proposal please contact me at the number(s) listed. For your records, I am attaching a copy of Chrysalis’ Small, Disadvantaged, Woman-Owned Business certificates (DBE/WBE) for the City and State of New York (Appendix A) and my current resume (Appendix B). Once again, thank you for the opportunity to submit this proposal and we look forward to working with you on this project. Sincerely,
Alyssa Loorya, M.A., MPhil., R.P.A. President