Recently we teamed up with members from the group known as Iron Miners. Like us they hunt down remarkable history and fantastic locations long forgotten in New England. What makes them unique, is that they pursue stories connected to mines lost in the forests across the northeast. Some of these tales are connected to important moments in the early history of America. We had such a great time working with them on the Lost cave of Monroe, we already have plans to team up with them on some fascinating projects in 2018.
Over the years of hunting down mines, they have captured many of their adventure in short documentaries. We thought many of you would find them as interesting as we did, so we’ll be posting them on our blog. Later this year we’ll be posting new videos on the amazing stories we’re working on with them right now.
Posted in Archaeological, Cave, Geological, Historical, Subterranean and tagged connecticut, history, legend, mine, new england by Michael with 3 comments.
Many know of the Dighton Rock. Another popular rock with a rune inscription is called the Narragansett Rock or Pojac Point Rock. It is the second most commonly spoken of landmark in Rhode Island concerning the possible pre-colonial visit by Vikings. The most popular landmark in Rhode Island that is claimed to have been built by Vikings is the Newport tower. What many do not know is that there are many other rocks in Rhode Island that are believed to also have runes inscriptions. Though most are hoaxes, Indian or colonial markings, or just natural features, they are interesting curios of Rhode Island culture and history.
Posted in Archaeological, Historical by Michael with no comments yet.
Clay Perry included many things in his books that would only be considered caves by the most generous definition. There were also some entries he referred to as artificial caves. These were man-made stone tunnels and chambers that can be found scattered across New England. Though he had and entire chapter that covered some that he found most interesting, there is one in Goshen, Massachusetts that will only be found in the index as a counterfeiter’s cave.
In late 2015, I had the chance to visit and explore this counterfeiter’s cave with My friends Jim, Michael , Tristen and Zack. I had known of the tunnel for over 25 years and had always wanted to explore it. I found the available descriptions and illustrations to be accurate. The tunnels branching off in two directions did appear odd, but the corbel construction is something I have seen in other colonial tunnels in New England. Their appearance greatly resembles old Roman culverts that can still be found in England. If it weren’t for the hardpan in which they are seated, I might suspect they were to divert or transport water over a property.
Posted in Archaeological, Cave, Historical, Subterranean by Michael with 4 comments.
All over New England are stone chambers of all different shapes and sizes. Clay Perry referred to them as artificial caves, and dedicated a chapter to some he speculated were created by Irish monks around 1000 AD.
In New England there is one known as the Hermit Cave. It is a corbelled dome chamber built into a low natural mound. It has a small crawl-in opening two feet high and wide with a three-foot-long passage. The passage slopes slightly to an oval chamber 6 feet, 8 inches high and 7 feet, 6 inches wide. The rear of the chamber to the entrance measures 11 feet, 6 inches long. This small chamber is an amazing work of dry masonry.
Posted in Archaeological, Historical, Ruins, Subterranean by Michael with 2 comments.
In Rhode Island there is a rocky hill known as Queen’s Fort. It was an Indian fort that was occupied by Narragansett Indians that survived the battle in the Great Swamp, and chose not to leave RI. It lives on a hill covered with glacial erratics. With that natural feature alone, this was a fantastic place for a fort. Somewhere hidden in this rugged landscape is a cave know as Queen Quaiapens Chamber.
Posted in Archaeological, Cave, Geological, Historical, Ruins, Subterranean by Michael with 4 comments.
The Stern
On January 1st, Richard and I fabricated a special rigging for the GoPro using PVC and a rail mount. The new mount would allow us to secure the camera over the side of the kayak, and position it facing in any direction using the two universal joints.
With the new camera mount, we went for a second visit to the remains of the 1873 British bark Bessie Rogers on Saturday. With the camera attached to the kayak, facing down and set to take photos every seconds, I paddled over to the wreck.
I broke up the area into four lanes. Once a lane was completed, since the camera was mounted on the starboard side, I turned around and repeated the lane. The entire wreck took about a half hour or more to cover. In the end we collected over 2000 photos
Posted in Archaeological, Historical, Marine by Michael with no comments yet.
Our weekend started off great when found what we believe might be the original Granite Monster. We met with my brother Steve and discussed the issue of the block being upside down. When we hit problems like this Steve always seems to be able to pull a solution out of his hat, and as usual he did. We have made plans to lift up the corner of the granite block using special tools suited for difficult jobs. With the block tightly seat on a bed of small rocks, difficult is an understatement. If ll goes well we’ll soon be able to see if we found the correct granite block.
We updated the rep from the Lighthouse museum on what we found. We also shared our recent 3D model we did of the blocks on the rocky shoreline. He liked the model so much he is interested in using them on a touch screen kiosk they have at the museum. We’re now shopping around for a tool that will host and display the models for the museum visitors interact with and enjoy.
Posted in Archaeological, Update & Information by Michael with no comments yet.
Sept 27th we made a second visit to Beavertail and it was a good day. We were able to look at a manuscript concerning the schooner H.F. Payton and its demise. Following our visit to the historical society library we headed down to the southern point to once again walk the shore during low time. With the new information in hand we felt confident we’d find the block.
As we waited for low tide to arrive, we reexamined the areas we had already searched. We also took the time to test a new underwater filer we had just gotten for the GoPro.
At the peak of low tide we began where we had started on on Sept 21st and proceeded south this time. About a quarter mile into our quest, we found the blocks.
Posted in Archaeological, Historical by Michael with no comments yet.
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