Gotham City Salvage Digs

Good news. Veteran historical digger Daniel McGee, a resident of New York City and core to the Manhattan Well Diggers has handcrafted another adventure filled digging story and graciously donated pictures and text to Dumpdiggers for your reading enjoyment.  Like always, the story begins with a way cool shot of NYC and here again is the new World Trade Center nearing completion. Now without further delay, lets tunnel back in time 150 years...

Gotham City Salvage I, II, III

by Daniel McGee

While out drumming up some digs, we noticed an entire section of a city block being demolished. The old maps showed this area had been laid out around 1780, and this was one of the original cobblestone streets! These old house-lots have lots of potential for subterranean discoveries in their long buried, long forgotten, elusive backyard privies. This location was densely populated and lined with buildings by the 1820s-30s, including a sizable schoolhouse by the 1840s, which is a key period in bottle manufacturing history.  Recently all the buildings had been knocked down and the bare earth exposed. This sight inspired several more recon trips.

On our next journey to the site we observed all the telltale signs of a disturbed privy. The evidence was there on the surface, including a large piece of an early banded bowl with a worm /cable pattern and a redware fragment with black splotching alongside it, a few dark blue transferware shards and some recently unearthed oyster shells resting beside desiccated food bones, all with night soil and ashes stuck to them.  Without any doubts, we knew at least one old vault had been penetrated by the heavy machinery processing the site.  In any case, we had to mobilize quickly.     

At the edge of a broken sidewalk scoping out the terrain, trackhoes were filling 30 ton dump trucks with weighty buckets of brick-rubble, dirt and debris.  Around noon the booms were resting and the engines idled down to a barely audible thrum. The trucks were tarped and gone, and the trackhoe operators off on a long break.  It was time to head back over to the edge of the site, and have another look around for the original lot lines.  This is usually a good place to search for evidence of privies and trash pits.  Even more so that day, since the spot had recently been scraped down 3 feet by a large machine.  This condition left certain features exposed which hadn’t seen the light of day in 150 years.

We began by shoveling alongside what appeared to be the remains of a freestanding redbrick wall. Brick by brick a second wall was outlined and then a third.  Without a doubt it was some kind of underground chamber.  We grew more excited as we found wood ashes, and three moldy leather shoe bottoms, a clay pipe with a bit of stem left on it dating to the late 19th century, a mouth-blown bottleneck here and there, and a bone or ivory toothbrush handle.

Doing all this digging and discovering took some time, as you can imagine, and we soon observed the guys in charge rounding the corner, returning from their lunch. They were visible working some distance away, and although their machines were running at full throttle again, they never drifted back over to our deepening hole.

Descending into the bricklined privy-vault, we soon encountered a wide array of dirt encrusted antique glass bottles from the 1880s-1890s. At one point really pretty bottles were being discovered one after another.  The recovered specimens were perhaps not the very pinnacle of bottle collecting, but all were handmade examples of the art and sufficiently motivating for us diggers, with plenty more ground left under our feet to explore.

After identifying all four walls of the 5’x 6’structure and cleaning the dirt away, the dig went on for a few more hours until reaching the hardpan base. As we dug down we encountered several layers of bottles and artifacts, and some of the best ones at the bottom had been manufactured as early as the 1850s.

In conclusion we had recovered about sixty intact antique glass bottles ranging from 1850s-1890s.  An assortment of mostly generic pontils, two Civil War era sodas, a half dozen crude early black-ales, several smooth-based medicines, a handful of local pharmacies, hutches, whiskeys, and others were arranged for the picture.  We packed up the best ones and backfilled the hole.

But this digging story doesn't end here,

Despite the major excavation being done on the site, we knew it was still possible a few more privies were concealed here. On our next visit we learned that a twelve story building with a large underground parking garage was being developed on the property, which guaranteed everything had to be removed before construction could begin.   Most of the original land had already been dug up and trucked away by the contractor, and the one slice which remained still had a 3 foot ledge covering it, including a layer of concrete with an asphalt cap. Amid the densely packed rubble at the border of the ledge we dug test holes to settle the matter as productively as possible before nightfall.  This was Dig II.

This dig was hard work.
Sharply contrasting the general ease of our first excavation, this area was a bitch. It wasn’t until after I dug deep and descending up to my neck into one of our narrow test holes that I found some encouraging evidence. On the end of my shovel I could see early transfer fragments. First one, and then another, and then other recognizable shapes began to appear. An early discovery was the forest green glass soda Philadelphia “XXX” Porter bottle and then a similar example in a much lighter shade.  Despite numerous setbacks, which I wont describe here, we eventually discovered a seam of bottles and chased the goody vein into dense pocket of broken pottery and glass, lying snugly within a promising bed of night soil.

An intact ovoid crock with a local maker’s mark was eventually extracted from its formidable resting spot. This is an important example of the Potters' art, which was probably made down at Raritan Bay, somewhere around 1825-1835.  The privy also contained 25 intact bottles, half of them pontiled and half of them smooth based, half embossed and half blanks.

The oldest artifacts at the bottom of the second privy dated to about 1830. We had uncovered a pocket of good history here that included a colorful mixture of decimated tableware from nearly two centuries ago, all wedged between brick-bats, stones, oyster shells, wet dirt and damp ashes, but no intact antique glass bottles were found. There were no significant discoveries of any kind, which is, in my experience, quite typical when digging with pre-1850s privies.

However the best things come to those who dig, and dig, and keep digging.

The following week, Dig III in another early brickliner produced the best bottle yet, an iron pontiled soda, in sapphire, from the 1850s!  This rare variant was discovered in a layer with 4 broken examples and a deep green soda from the same period missing its lip, along with a smooth based soda, an umbrella ink and a number of other intact bottles.    

By our estimation there are probably 2-3 privies still waiting under the concrete at the far end of the site… we’ll keep you posted as things unfold.

Dan

www.TheManhattanWellDiggers.com

Digging Long Forgotten Outhouse Privies in Manhattan NYC

As keeper of the Dumpdiggers Blog I get a lot of wonderful emails, photos and cries for help from readers. People ask me to appraise the things, give proper names of things, and contact info, or they write long accounts of historic digs but fail to send any pictures. I will publish anything, but there has to be pictures... 

One such writer, a veteran Dumpdigger living in New York City named Daniel McGee always sends great pictures and text, and is a regular contributor. He writes about his own adventures with his gang as they research and dig up pioneer privies on abandon or otherwise transitional properties in Manhattan. Its fascinating stuff. Dan has style too - he usually leads with a wide shot of the area, and this time, its a picture of Manhattan! Here's the new World Trade Center being erected in the center of town.

Dan McGee and his crew specialize in finding broken buildings and exploring their backyards. They dig test pits and only sink shafts when they strike bottles. They liberate history from holes in the ground just days before the backhoes and bulldozers appear to demolish structures and excavate the earth, and take everything away. 

Dan writes (his words until END),

El Monstro De Gotham

SALVAGING AN ENORMOUS URBAN VAULT, TEN FEET WIDE & SEVEN FEET ACROSS
C. 1840. DSMcGee   www.TheManhattanWellDiggers.com

'El Monstro De Gotham' is Spanish for 'The Monster Of Gotham'.  The privy-well is among the largest ever encountered here in NYC, i.e., Gotham (however it wasn't exactly deep at only 7-8 feet but I may have covered that in the other notes). 

The property we were digging on will soon be redeveloped...which is the main reason we were able to go in and salvage what we could, before they remove the old well and its contents.  The point is, nearly all the digs we undertake are unpaid 'salvage operations', in the sense that the areas have/or will-soon-be totally altered/ destroyed by necessary developments.  As such, we consider our 20+ years of volunteer digging and investigating activities, including documentation via photography, article writing, bottle and artifact retrieval and processing, etc., to be an integral part of the Historical Digging record nationwide; and perhaps even further afield in some cases.

The site is part of a row of old buildings, circa 1840.  The privy-well (the old outhouse vault, chamber, etc.) was uncharacteristically made of freestanding redbrick; they're usually constructed of freestanding field-stone in the New York Metropolitan region; in that sense it was somewhat similar to a rainwater cistern when awe first opened it up at had a look.

To make a long story short, the way in which I became aware of the potential dig was this: After getting off the subway with my gear and swiftly heading to a particular spot on a construction site where I knew the owner would probably allow me to probe and test dig that afternoon...A faint voice (or instinctual urge, intuition or whatever) goaded me to walk down a certain street a couple blocks away, so I did.  Several blocks later I forgot all about the 'voice', and, that's when two women began shouting 'Hey, Hey'.  It was cold and they had their hoods up so I didn't recognize them as I briefly turned back to see who it was.  I naturally assumed they were mistaking me for someone else.  Then, from about a 100 feet away down a side-street I heard my first name called out...how odd the guy they were looking for had same name as me (I still didn't recognize them due to the distance between us).  Then, something to the effect of 'we'd recognize that probe anywhere...!'

After all it is fairly unique in appearance, particularly when being taken up and down the streets and avenues, not too mention the often overcrowded and bustling subways of New York.  Again, long story short, some good friends of theirs had been holding up their property renovation until the back corner spot could be investigated; they'd had us in mind all along but the actual connection wasn't made until right at that moment.

On this historical dig, the massive 'double privy' (privy well, privy chamber, or privy vault), turned out to be the largest we've encountered so far here in the New York Metropolitan area.  Measuring over 10 feet wide (!) and 7 feet across, thankfully it was only between 7-8 feet deep.

For the record, had it been the customary 10-15 feet deep, the logistical problems we encountered would not have allowed many of the bottles and assorted artifacts to be safely salvaged, or for the operation to be completed entirely.

For instance, on the second day our skeleton crew had to bail many gallons of water which were continuously seeping into the active layer and rendering successful extractions of bottles and artifacts nearly impossible the entire time; not too mention doubling the workload for the duration of the excavation. 

*There is no doubt that this very large vault was used by two adjoining townhouses, which were built around 1840 or so.  In fact it's outer circumference extended 6 feet into what would have been the neighbors yard back in the mid 19th century.

Also, like most others we've investigated on historical digs over the last 2 decades, the privy-well had been dipped (thoroughly cleaned out, or prohibitively disturbed as the 'ARKO's' are fond of saying) to about only a foot or so from base level, most likely right around the time modern plumbing was installed at the residence. Despite this very common scenario, i.e., the stark reality that the first 6 feet or so of dirt we bucketed out was merely sterile back-fill material, essentially devoid of bottles and artifacts, we made many interesting antique bottle discoveries down near the floor of the vault.


Here are two umbrella style inkwells, emerald green and aqua, circa 1850-1855.


HARRISON’S / COLOMBIAN / INK, circa 1855.

We found a few rare early Patent Medicines including,
"Hastings Compound Syrup of Naptha" circa 1855-1860. This aromatic substance was invented in London in 1848 by Dr. Hastings who promoted his formula as 'The great Remedy for Consumption, Asthma, Spitting of Blood, Night Sweats, Husky Throat, Wasting of the Flesh, Coughs, Colds and all Diseases of the Chest and Lungs. Contemporary newspapers ads claimed that Hastings’ compound was being used in the hospitals and among the best physicians."

Cobalt blue, eight paneled teakettle ink, circa 1875. This is gorgeous and in great condition.

There were four of us involved with the historical dig at various times throughout the three days of investigation, myself, Mya, JJ Galione, and "Celtic Willy" from Sligo town.

As is nearly always the case we were incredibly busy during the entire salvage excavation...we never had a chance to get decent pics of the last 2 helpers or to take many good dig shots for that matter.  In fact the best examples are the ones you see here and on the Facebook Page.

BRANT'S INDIAN BALSAM, circa 1855. The second pic to the left shows bottom, displays its pontiled base.

To the right are an assortment of bone and ivory toothbrush handles, circa 1850s-1870s.

In summary, there were many smooth base examples ranging from 1885-1865, there were over 30 pontiled examples, a half dozen tobacco pipes, an equal number of bone or ivory toothbrushes, and a bunch of ceramic and pottery fragments. The latter, along with a bunch of earlier bottles and so on, were trampled upon, decimated that is, as is almost always the case on these historical digs, while the dippers went about their lowly, odoriferous task of cleaning out the reeking night soil deposits back in the late 19th century.

Despite their heavy footwork and vigorous shoveling as they went about the grimy process of acquiring waste-generated fertilizer, over 75 intact bottles, some manufactured as early as the 1840s, were reclaimed from the shadowy environs down below. 

Manhattan Well Diggers, June 2011 Bakery Dig

The Manhattan Well Diggers are at it again and DS McGee sent me some lovely pictures and text relating to their latest excavation, on the site of a US Civil War era bakery. Here's a link to their website The Manhatten Well Diggers and here's a link to the Bakery Excavation in Manhattan Well Diggers Facebook Page.

THE SECRET LOCATION: Behind the fence beside the red brick building is an empty lot. On this site, 130 years ago there was a bakery, which operated here between 1855-1865, and would have baked the bread that New Yorkers ate as they read news of Civil War battles. DS McGee writes, "Prior to the Civil War era salvage dig of this weekend, we investigated a shallow woodliner ( a latrine that had wood boards lining the interior of the shaft) which dated to about 1885-1915, and a long narrow 'trough' privy, 10 feet from end to end, 3 feet wide, and only 3 feet deep, which was constructed of stone and filled with mostly 1880s-1910s 'hutch' style beer and soda bottles." So readers come to understand that the dig team has been on this property before, and only just recently found the oldest 'well' as they call a privy (latrine).

Over time the team sunk many test pits which are small probative holes until they encountered something, anything especially a rich deposit of historic glass - on this day they found the top of a century old well. McGee writes of this picture, 'Here is one small section of the 'privy well' open for the first time in about 130 years.' This 'well' was made of heavy stone, its circumference nearly six feet across, once emptied, from the floor to the top of the yard measured 7 1/2 feet. Click the picture, it expands and you can see they have a small privy rod - a four foot spring steel rod on which there is usually a short piece of grid pipe welded for a handle.

The bottles came up in clutches, along other detritus. One of the first bottles discovered was this large green medicine bottle, seen here alongside a Civil War era soda or beer, a XXX Ginger Ale, and others. Manufacture date of the items ranges from about 1860-1875.

It was hot digging for two people but they had an early start. Their mission was to go on site and recover anything found in the ground before a professional excavation company goes to work digging up the ground for nearby building improvements. Both diggers are obligated to fill in the hole again before they leave - both are absolutely committed to savouring the day, and it was probably one of the longest days of their lives.


It took all morning and afternoon to get to the bottom of the oldest latrine hole on the property, but look what treasures they saved.
Perhaps most spectacular is this teal green "T&M" medicine bottle, heavily embossed on both side panels, and a very pronounced 'open pontil' scar on base, c.1855. This is a fairly rare find on any salvage dig and a nice addition to any New York druggist bottle collection. Now DS Mcgee has the task of determining just who or what was T&M? and what concoction was once sold in this container?
DR. PORTER / NEW YORK, c. 1865, seen here just as it appeared in the ground. And below are clay saloon pipes, manufactured between about 1855-1875. These are usually found without stems because the pipes were disposable in that the stem was seldom cleaned but rather broken off and shortened as it became clogged.
Here's the final stash or what most Dumpdigging teams will 'The Picks', because at the end of the dig everyone will pick from the pile (usually after flipping a coin to see who picks first). I would take that Civil War era umbrella ink seen in the front row. Click the picture - it expands!
In his closing remarks DS McGee writes, '...despite the intense heat and labor intensive conditions, we were able to salvage over 30 antique bottles before the backyard renovation was underway.' Good work McGee. Keep saving history and sending us the pictures.

Manhattan Well Diggers Excavate Old America

Dumpdigging in Old American Cities

That would be a good name for a book. Someone should focus on that subject and research and write that best seller; I'd only have to start an online discussion by which everyone involved can contribute their digs and photos. This would amount to half the content. Today that's how people conduct interactive research on a subject. Perhaps a thread on the Dumpdiggers Discussion Forum would help?

On Sunday there came a curious email from someone south of the border. This little birdie was very excited, and very eager to share the thrill and spread the obsession that is the bottle bug virus.

First, remember the cloak and dagger nature of digging relics and why talk of buried treasure engenders such secrets and lies. Only then can you appreciate how difficult it is for anyone to get rare and pretty pictures of a spectacular dig in downtown New York City, because this activity is done in secret. And I believe this blog is the first to display these pictures, another rare honour in this subculture.

You all know how I feel about the heritage police in Canada... Our bureaucracy of backward thinkers have their own blanket rules propagated only to protect their own outdated establishment, and nothing else. True diggers hold a higher moral code which binds them to use the internet and share as much as possible about their quest and their activities. They strive to educate the public by whatever means necessary in order to communicate the subtle excitement of excavating history...

So I was honored to receive these pictures of Dan, Tim & Mya, the Manhattan Well Diggers doing their thing at the bottom of some deep holes in the middle of their great city. Thanks to Joe who sent along some text too, and I love the cryptic tone that hearkens back to the days of adventure on the high seas, when X marked the spot.





Here's what Joe wrote, transcribed, in that cryptic email,

We’ll take the A Train…to The Village that is.

On the way to twenty-one feet of exceptionally fertile night soil
with the Manhattan Well Diggers.

"Rolling swiftly down the tracks in a dark tube, situated under a sizable metropolis, on the way to dig a privy is a fairly unique endeavor by most standards...."

..."Lining up a dig in the heart of New York today is significant. Abandoned buildings, those constructed without plumbing in the mid nineteenth century or earlier, which once dotted the streets of certain key neighborhoods, and the numerous easily accessible open lots containing great digging potential, are basically long gone..."











"...a week ago we had the pleasure of excavating a hundred intact bottles and miscellaneous pieces from 1845-1870. These were unearthed in the privy right next door from today’s adventures. Remarkably, during day two of that project the broken remains of a small photograph, showing a seated gentlemen and believed to be a daguerreotype, were uncovered in the privy. The gold plate which surrounds the glass picture indicates it was most likely taken at KIMBALL 347 BROADWAY N-Y. An 1856 listing was confirmed for that address in New York. The third and final day of that excavation was spent sifting and assembling various shard-piles for the local history professor who owns the property..."







by Daniel McGee

Do you have anything you want to share with the world? My email address is rob AT dumpdiggers DOT com and I'll publish your stories and link to your site and help you share your knowledge and ambitions.