Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Bones Uncovered in Washington Square Park!





This is very exciting for a couple of reasons.

1. I live three blocks away from Washington Square Park. (Factor that in, Jin Ai!)

2. I've been telling people about the park's dark and dangerous history for years. (And I'm not always sure if they believe me.)

The bones were discovered on Monday near a men's restroom at the southern end of the park by workers testing the soil for utility lines. (Though anyone who dares enter a restroom in WSP risks being discovered in a similar fashion, these bones are believed to be quite old.)

According to this article, it appears the bones had been moved several times since they were originally buried. Neither this fact nor the find itself is at all surprising. As you may already know from the Kiki Strike books, Washington Square Park is the final resting place for thousands of plague victims who were buried there two centuries ago when the plot of land was used as a potter's field. Now that the park is being renovated, I would be very surprised if a few more skeletons aren't discovered.

If you go down to the park to check out the action, be sure not to miss the "hanging tree" at the south-west corner of the park. It was used for executions at the beginning of the 19th century!

UPDATE: More information from The New York Times!


(Below: What Washington Square Park will look like after renovations.)


14 comments:

Hazel said...

First comment! I think.
And "reburied respectfully," it says. Good for them.

Nellie said...

Charming. I wish I lived in Washington Square Park now. I might find more bones in my backyard.
;)

Kitty said...

8D Maybe the next time I visit New York I can go there!!! Yay! lol. Did you see them take out the bones?? I wonder how the people you told about the "parks dark and dangerous history" will react now. XD

Spring said...

I NEED to move to NYC. UGH! That's so cool!

Jin Ai said...

AHH!!
Uh oh. I think I lost the list of clues as to where you live...hehe...um, I mean...
That's really cool, though. I'm surprised that this is the first time they've found something!

I should borrow my friend's dog and see if he can sniff around and find something, lol.

Jin Ai said...

By the way: so do I!
What a coincidence....hehe.
I also happen to live
1. in/around the village,
2. most likely somewhere near the hidden houses
and 3., okay, not a few blocks away from the Jefferson Market, but a bit more than 10 minutes away!

I'll ask my dad [a computer scientist] or my friend [math genius] to try and find a list of possible places where you live. It shouldn't be too hard...in fact, using coordinate geometry, even I might be able to do it, just by finding the intersection of a few circles!
If only the blocks in the Village were as orderly as they are uptown, lol.
But that's part of what makes it so interesting.

ananka said...

Jin Ai: Do you live on Sullivan or Thompson? Just a guess. Maybe someday you'll see me watching the squirrels. And yes, triangulation would probably work quite well given all of the information I've put forth.

Elizabeth said...

Maybe they should rename the park Washington Square Cemetery.

Jin Ai said...

haha, that's an interesting idea, Elizabeth-but it would probably put off all the tourists, who would also get confused looking for Washington Square Park!

Jin Ai said...

By the way, when you said a dozen blocks away, did you mean from your old house, or from the hidden houses?

ananka said...

Jin Ai: I would say about a dozen from the hidden houses now.

Raph said...

FANTASTIC! :)
Another reason to visit New York... I don't know if I can wait much longer. xD

creativeartist said...

spring:dido

Anonymous said...

Don't be a stalker jin ai...:)