Everyone knows that new facilities are often built on top of old construction sites. Church builders are notorious for this. One well known example of this is St. Peter’s Basicila in Rome.
From the site, infoplease.com:
The present structure was built mainly between 1506 and 1626 on the original site of the Vatican cemetery and an early shrine to St. Peter. In the 4th century, Emperor Constantine built the first church of St. Peter, a wood-roofed basilica, with transepts, five aisles, and an atrium. It was said to be built over the grave of St. Peter. Here Charlemagne and many other emperors and popes were crowned.
Imagine all the layers of history under there!
So just think about the strange or long lost objects found during major renovation or construction projects.
Just last week (November 28, 2007), one such discovery was made in Bangor, ME. From the AP by way of the Bangor Daily News .
Workers on a courthouse renovation project have made an eerie discovery in the basement, the headstone of a man who died in 1874. County Administrator Bill Collins said no one knows why the headstone was kept in the basement of the courthouse, but he guesses it may have been evidence in a case. The front bears the name Isaac Cobb, who was 72 when he died.
Adding to the mystery is the poem scrawled on the back of the three foot high grave marker.
The ditty on the flip side appears to have been painted in black paint, by jail inmates. It’s titled “Pretty Boy Floyd Redmond” and tells the story of someone who came to town to “do or die.”
Workers have been renovating the Penobscot County Courthouse since October and are due to finish the job in February.
In April 2005, TFM ran an article on the Chicago Field Museum’s research collection depository, which was an archaeological exercise in itself.
Built on a landfill in 1921, the Field Museum rests on ground that didn’t even exist prior to 1915. After the famous Chicago fire, city officials decided to push the debris out into the lake and just continued with lake fill.
During the excavation, “members of the museum’s large archaeology staff came out every day and walked the site as we were digging. They constantly found things down there–bottles, jugs, buttons, shoes, pins, rings, dinnerware, and bits of china.
One of the archaeologists created an exhibit in the museum to feature items found during the renovation.
And back in March 1999, TFM ran a story on Lee Evey, program manager for the original, pre 9/11 Pentagon Renovation. In the article, Evey, who also headed up the post 9/11 project, shared a few humorous stories about what was found in one area of the building that hadn’t been touched since the original structure was completed in the 1940s. He recalls,
We have seen many signs of the previous workers back in the 40s. Some of our guys have nice little collections of 1940s cigarette packs and 1940s beer cans. The original builders worked very hard here, but apparently they enjoyed themselves too.
When asked, “Have I found the buried trucks? Have we found the buried bulldozer?” I’ve always been able to say, “No, no, no, those are all stories, none of it is real.”
But then, just a few months later, we found the truck. We were driving a pile down in basement segment two, and we hit something; it bent. It hit the engine block on the truck. That’s a true story.
Will they ever find Teamster Jimmy Hoffa’s body under Giants Stadium? Even the Mythbusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman don’t know for sure.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever found during a rebuild? Share your stories here!
To request a copy of the original TFM article on Lee Evey, e-mail tfm@groupc.com.
