southferryfinds

News

South Ferry Subway Station Project Uncovers remains of

Colonial Period Walls beneath BatterY Park, Manhattan

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and MTA New York City Transit have been working to consturct an improved South Ferry Subway Terminal located underneath Peter Minuit Plaza in Lower Manhattan, adjacent to Battery Park and the Staten Island Ferry Terminal (For more info on this project go to http://mta.info/capconstr/sft/index.html ). The work to create this new terminal and associated tracks has been taking place in an area known to highly sensitive for archaeological deposits associated with Colonial era New York. In order to address the potential for important archaeological finds, the MTA and the Federal Tranpsortation Authority (FTA) worked closely with the New York State Historic Preservation Office and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to develop and implement a plan for monitoring the construction and documenting any archaeological deposits that might be encountered. Several important early stone and wooden structures have been identified and investigated. At this time, these structures are considered to be remnants of the early battery complex which protected New York City during the mid-late 18th Century. A number of news and internet articles have been published that provide more details on these finds (LINKS TO NEWS ARTICLES).

Below are some images of the features that have been identified during this work.

Above Right - Exposed section of early wall find. The trench excavated to allow archaeologists to find the bottom of the wall is partially filled with ground water. This find is slightly below sea level

Left: Fill and marine strata overlaying wall section. The wall appears to have been dismantled at this location to a point below sea level - with a layer of debris left overlying the stone. Later wave action appears to have deposited marine sediments over the wall and rubble.

Above Left : Section of wall previously damaged prior to this project. Throughout this work, archaeologists have encountered what appear to be missing and damaged sections fo the wall that testify to the long history of landscape modification in this part of Manhattan. It is likely that many of these damaged sections the walls were encountered during previous construction projects, before the adverse of current regulations designed to protect and record such deposits. At this location, the previous damage allowed an early cross section view of the wall. You can see the flat stones that faced the wall as well as the rubble interior. An archaeological units at the base of the wall revealed large cobbles and rubble that were placed at the base of the wall.

Above Right: These units also provided some of the first glimpses of wooden timbers that appear to underlie portions of this wall (far wall at bottom of unit).

Left: Although the wall is still mostly covered with overlying fill, the width of the wall can be seen in this view - with archaeologists clearing and surveying the west face, while the upper portion of the east face is visible to the right. this view also illustrates the setting of this section of wall, along the eastern edge of Battery Park.

On February 3, 2006, the Professional Archaeologists of New York City (PANYC) along with representatives of the New York State Archaeological Association and the New York State Museum were invited to visit the site and view the deposits under investigation.

By this time it was clear that this was substantial section of wall and that portions of it had been previously impacted by various utility projects over the last 50+ years. Despite those impacts, the wall appears to have remained intact at some level across the full width of the current construction corridor. Thanks to the efforts of the MTA, the FTA and the review agencies involved (SHPO and NYC LPC) this entire section of wall is being documented inlcuding detailed drawing and large format photography.

As can be seen in the following images, large portions of this wall segment are underlain by timber cribwork. The nature of this timber work is still under investigation.

The image above left shows the eastern side of the wall, and intact timbers that appear to have underlain the stone wall. A myriad of previously constructed utilities criss cross this area, but have not removed evidence of the colonial period wall.

Left: The western edge of the wall, directly opposite the above photo. The visible timbers are not the same as those on the east side of the wall, but they appear to be aligned with them. Members of PANYC can be seen examinig the deposits.

Left: Much of the wall shown in previous images has been documented and removed, allowing the underlying timbers to be examined in more detail. It appeas that as many as five alternating layers of timber were laid down at some point before the stone wall was built.

Above Right: In some areas, there is evidence that smaller, upright posts were utilized to help form the limits of the timber structure.

Left: Recently, another extensive section of wall has been encountered just to the north of the previously documented section. Documentation of this section is currenlty underway (2/25/06). The Staten Island Ferry Terminal is visible at the rear of this photo, providing some more context on the location of this significant archaeological find at the southern tip of Manhattan.