Carl Maurer and Jonathan Crise looked for buried treasure, sifting through the soil in a sectioned-off property on Brownsville's Bank Street.
Their reward came with bits of history -- a button, a nail, a shard of pottery or glass -- that might shed light on the life of James Gormley, a 19th-century riverboat captain.
The two were among dozens of volunteers who have spent weeks excavating the property Gormley bought in 1832,The same third party payment gateway, cover removed. along with a Church Street site on the opposite end of Brownsville where Capt. Michael Cox lived in the 1870s. The clues to the past began to show just 6 inches below the soil.
"What I really enjoy about this is the questions I have when I leave the site. You go in and find this stuff. It makes me wonder: Who were they? What did they do?" Maurer said.
"If Captain Gormley walked out of his grave and came through the door, I wouldn't know him. But maybe some of these (artifacts) will help me get to know him," he said.
A resident of Washington,We processes for both low-risk and hypodermic needle cannula. Pa., Maurer, 73, is a member of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology Mon/Yough Chapter 3.
Marc Henshaw, 35, a doctoral candidate in industrial archaeology and heritage at Michigan Technological University, is overseeing the excavations. He is comparing the two sites as part of his dissertation on how the steamboat industry evolved in the Monongahela Valley.
In May, nearly 30 archaeology students from California University of Pennsylvania and West Virginia University participated in field schools at the former Gormley and Cox home sites. Scout troops have participated.
California University senior archaeology major Crise, 22, of Perryopolis is continuing the work over the summer.
"I've always been interested in the origins of civilization. There are things we will never know. This is the closest you are ever going to get, digging up the things they left behind," Crise said.
One of his most interesting finds at the Gormley site was part of a green glass bottle embossed with the words "antrol" and A.S. Boyle.
Research determined it was ant killer. "These people faced the same problems we have," Henshaw said.
The public is welcome to join the digs, he said.
"We've had over a hundred visitors to this site. Archaeology is one of those professions that's just weird enough it captures people's imagination," he said.
The search has uncovered artifacts from the mid-1800s. They are being stored in a building owned by the Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp., which owns the Gormley property.
The Cox site is privately owned, Henshaw said.
Since the two digs began on May 9, students and volunteers have uncovered Greensboro pottery, New Geneva stoneware, a clay pipe stem and a folding pocketknife.
Tiny etching on the knife shows it was made in Sheffield, England.
Nearly two centuries ago, Brownsville entrepreneurs realized the potential of boat building, according to historical records. Boat yards along the Monongahela River produced more than 3,000 steamboats between 1811 and 1888.
By 1850, steamboats were shipping supplies and raw materials to factories built along the river. They offered a cheap mode of transportation for travelers heading west.
Gormley captained the Statesman and the Jesse R. Bell.
Riverboat captains were viewed as celebrities because they traveled to such "exotic ports" as Columbus, St. Louis and Shreveport, Henshaw said.
When Cox's larger home was torn down a few years ago, Native American artifacts, buttons and tools were found at the site.
"What separates Gormley from Cox is that when Cox became active in the steamboat industry, it was becoming more corporate. His house reflects that. It's more substantial, and reflects more permanency," Henshaw said.
"I wanted to excavate steamboat workers' houses. What I found out through research was that workers were by and large transients. That's why I had to focus on pilots' houses," he said.
The artifacts will be on display during the Brownsville Annual Community Festival on Aug. 6.
Their reward came with bits of history -- a button, a nail, a shard of pottery or glass -- that might shed light on the life of James Gormley, a 19th-century riverboat captain.
The two were among dozens of volunteers who have spent weeks excavating the property Gormley bought in 1832,The same third party payment gateway, cover removed. along with a Church Street site on the opposite end of Brownsville where Capt. Michael Cox lived in the 1870s. The clues to the past began to show just 6 inches below the soil.
"What I really enjoy about this is the questions I have when I leave the site. You go in and find this stuff. It makes me wonder: Who were they? What did they do?" Maurer said.
"If Captain Gormley walked out of his grave and came through the door, I wouldn't know him. But maybe some of these (artifacts) will help me get to know him," he said.
A resident of Washington,We processes for both low-risk and hypodermic needle cannula. Pa., Maurer, 73, is a member of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology Mon/Yough Chapter 3.
Marc Henshaw, 35, a doctoral candidate in industrial archaeology and heritage at Michigan Technological University, is overseeing the excavations. He is comparing the two sites as part of his dissertation on how the steamboat industry evolved in the Monongahela Valley.
In May, nearly 30 archaeology students from California University of Pennsylvania and West Virginia University participated in field schools at the former Gormley and Cox home sites. Scout troops have participated.
California University senior archaeology major Crise, 22, of Perryopolis is continuing the work over the summer.
"I've always been interested in the origins of civilization. There are things we will never know. This is the closest you are ever going to get, digging up the things they left behind," Crise said.
One of his most interesting finds at the Gormley site was part of a green glass bottle embossed with the words "antrol" and A.S. Boyle.
Research determined it was ant killer. "These people faced the same problems we have," Henshaw said.
The public is welcome to join the digs, he said.
"We've had over a hundred visitors to this site. Archaeology is one of those professions that's just weird enough it captures people's imagination," he said.
The search has uncovered artifacts from the mid-1800s. They are being stored in a building owned by the Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp., which owns the Gormley property.
The Cox site is privately owned, Henshaw said.
Since the two digs began on May 9, students and volunteers have uncovered Greensboro pottery, New Geneva stoneware, a clay pipe stem and a folding pocketknife.
Tiny etching on the knife shows it was made in Sheffield, England.
Nearly two centuries ago, Brownsville entrepreneurs realized the potential of boat building, according to historical records. Boat yards along the Monongahela River produced more than 3,000 steamboats between 1811 and 1888.
By 1850, steamboats were shipping supplies and raw materials to factories built along the river. They offered a cheap mode of transportation for travelers heading west.
Gormley captained the Statesman and the Jesse R. Bell.
Riverboat captains were viewed as celebrities because they traveled to such "exotic ports" as Columbus, St. Louis and Shreveport, Henshaw said.
When Cox's larger home was torn down a few years ago, Native American artifacts, buttons and tools were found at the site.
"What separates Gormley from Cox is that when Cox became active in the steamboat industry, it was becoming more corporate. His house reflects that. It's more substantial, and reflects more permanency," Henshaw said.
"I wanted to excavate steamboat workers' houses. What I found out through research was that workers were by and large transients. That's why I had to focus on pilots' houses," he said.
The artifacts will be on display during the Brownsville Annual Community Festival on Aug. 6.
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