What have our neighbors excavated?
Our Boerum Hill neighbors are building a parlor floor deck and digging out their garden for a foundation. Their contractor unearthed some circular, “well”-looking thing (see picture) about ten feet from their back wall, and about ten feet below current grade. They unearthed the outside of a similar circular brick wall along our shared property…
Our Boerum Hill neighbors are building a parlor floor deck and digging out their garden for a foundation.
Their contractor unearthed some circular, “well”-looking thing (see picture) about ten feet from their back wall, and about ten feet below current grade. They unearthed the outside of a similar circular brick wall along our shared property line (meaning there’s one under our patio as well).
Is this:
a) an ancient well,
b) a recent septic tank,
c) an old outhouse, or
d) part of George Washington’s original 18th century fortifications against the British in the Battle of Brooklyn
I have also dug up rows of vertically placed flagstones in our back yard while putting in swings. So any tips on what that could be, would also be appreciated.
It’s so cool to see what’s under the ground!
http://msaquality.com – We offer excavation and landscaping services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Our staff has the expertise and the necessary equipment to excavate in different soil conditions; thus, we are able to offer a broad range of excavation services.
Maybe the Aztec’s used your lots as a Summer hands on learning institution prior to being sent to build there native pyramids…lol…jk
It’s interesting to note that there was a time in the past when such technology was considered quite an impluvement.
I might be wrong, but I believe that could very well be what is called an “impluvium”. If it is, it may well have a marble basin. Careful with that spade!
http://www.answers.com/topic/impluvium
I guess I’m just first to respond, because these are in most of our backyards. This is a cistern, which was the fresh water source for these homes prior to indoor plumbing. This well is usually around 7-10 feet from the back wall of the house, and diagonal from it, at the back of the property line is the outhouse “well.” I’m sure there’s another word, but I can’t think of it right now.
If you guys are into it, and I hope you are, you need to contact Jack Fortmeyer. He and his colleagues excavate these sites because when the plumbing went inside, the city instructed everyone to basically make their own landfill with their garbage. While anything biodegradable is long gone, there are fantastic finds of beautiful glass bottles and tins; most with a great story attached to them…little historic memories! This was a time before labels and everything has raised letters, all in one form.
I met Jack through my brother and so his team excavated my outhouse and cistern and there was an adorable terra cotta flowerpot and a small perfume bottle from Paris, still with a little bit of perfume in them. Jack does the project without any costs to you, for his personal collection, but you can keep whatever you’d like to. I don’t think it takes more than a day to do, especially since you guys did half the work!
I don’t think he’d mind, but I’m reluctant to post his number, so if you’re interested, email me at nodnyc@gmail.com and I’ll send it to you.
*That’s* for a deck? Our 10×10 deck has two supports and they dug out a 2x2x3′ hole or smaller for each concrete footing. Should I be worried?
We found a pipe like that too, closer to the surface, and ignored it.