A Park Slope resident spotted some trucks and equipment yesterday at the vacant lot between 8th and 9th streets, near 3rd Avenue — possibly the burial site of Revolutionary War soldiers from the First Maryland Regiment killed in the Battle of Brooklyn. Turns out the city is eyeing the space for a future school site; makes sense considering how school overcrowding in Park Slope has been a hot-button issue recently. Over the summer, the New York Times published an article on the possibility this lot may be a historic gravesite. Bob Furman, a Brooklyn historian and president of the Brooklyn Preservation Council, has no way to test the site in question as the lot owners are interested in either selling or developing, but not any archeological propositions. Furman didn’t have any details about the trucks, either, but Kim Maier, executive director of the Old Stone House, let us know she found out the New York City School Construction Authority is conducting preliminary explorations for a potential site for a school. She notified them of the possible historic nature of the area, and they are assessing the situation. They took some soil samples and are checking to see if they are of any historical interest. Some local preservation groups hope to turn this space into a park and will seek to have it designated a Federal Historic Landmark site. You can read up on the grave site’s history right here. And check out another photo from yesterday after the jump.
Seeking Brooklyn’s Lost Mass Grave [NY Times] GMAP