Topic ID #9136 - posted 12/14/2010 6:53 AM
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
Historians lament plan to fill in Petty's Run excavation in Trenton
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
Posted on Mon, Dec. 13, 2010
Historians lament plan to fill in Petty's Run excavation in Trenton
By Edward Colimore
Inquirer Staff Writer
To the untrained eye, the rough-looking tract on the south side of the Statehouse in Trenton looks like an ordinary construction site.
To archaeologists and historians, it's a rare treasure. Deep in the earth are the remains of what may be the only colonial-era steel mill excavated in North America.
Two Philadelphians - Timothy Matlack and Owen Biddle - once made steel at the so-called Petty's Run site, demonstrating an independent streak that dismayed England. The British wanted raw materials from the colonies so they could turn out the finished product for sale in America.
"This was part of American independence," said Ian Burrow, vice president of Hunter Research Inc. in Trenton, which conducted the archaeological dig. "We can be more self-sufficient."
Now, the uncovered ruins of the steel mill and other 18th- and 19th-century mills and buildings - built atop one another like the layers of a cake - will be reburied by spring for about $400,000.
Read the rest here.
Historians lament plan to fill in Petty's Run excavation in Trenton
By Edward Colimore
Inquirer Staff Writer
To the untrained eye, the rough-looking tract on the south side of the Statehouse in Trenton looks like an ordinary construction site.
To archaeologists and historians, it's a rare treasure. Deep in the earth are the remains of what may be the only colonial-era steel mill excavated in North America.
Two Philadelphians - Timothy Matlack and Owen Biddle - once made steel at the so-called Petty's Run site, demonstrating an independent streak that dismayed England. The British wanted raw materials from the colonies so they could turn out the finished product for sale in America.
"This was part of American independence," said Ian Burrow, vice president of Hunter Research Inc. in Trenton, which conducted the archaeological dig. "We can be more self-sufficient."
Now, the uncovered ruins of the steel mill and other 18th- and 19th-century mills and buildings - built atop one another like the layers of a cake - will be reburied by spring for about $400,000.
Read the rest here.
Post ID#18787 - replied 6/13/2011 4:52 AM
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
Post ID#18789 - replied 6/13/2011 5:11 PM
fresno
I guess backfilling the excavation makes sense if they can't move forward with their plans in the near-term due to budget constraints. Although, re-exposing the features will be a real pain in the ass later (in a few decades perhaps...?). Looks like a real nifty site.
Post ID#19021 - replied 9/19/2011 4:25 AM
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
Another update:
Trenton's Petty's Run archaeological site near Statehouse will be kept open
TRENTON — The state and Mercer County have forged an agreement to keep the Petty’s Run site open, saving the endangered archaeological dig from becoming history.
The county and the state Department of Environmental Protection will spend an estimated $1.6 million over the next 10 years restoring, running and maintaining the site, located behind the Statehouse and near the Old Barracks.
“I think it’s an excellent example of where Trenton was a long time ago and it’s one of our historic treasures that I really wanted to keep open,” said Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes.
The reprieve comes nearly a year after a state committee voted to bury and preserve the dig and stop work on a new $87 million state park that would run from the Statehouse to the Delaware River.
Read more here.
Trenton's Petty's Run archaeological site near Statehouse will be kept open
TRENTON — The state and Mercer County have forged an agreement to keep the Petty’s Run site open, saving the endangered archaeological dig from becoming history.
The county and the state Department of Environmental Protection will spend an estimated $1.6 million over the next 10 years restoring, running and maintaining the site, located behind the Statehouse and near the Old Barracks.
“I think it’s an excellent example of where Trenton was a long time ago and it’s one of our historic treasures that I really wanted to keep open,” said Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes.
The reprieve comes nearly a year after a state committee voted to bury and preserve the dig and stop work on a new $87 million state park that would run from the Statehouse to the Delaware River.
Read more here.
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