Historical Exporations in the City of New York
By Reginald Pelham Bolton

Our work of exploration upon vacant areas in the
upper part of the island of Manhattan has been systemati¬
cally pursued during the past twenty years by a party
of enthusiasts led by Mr. W. L. Calver, and including
Messrs. John Ward Dunsmore, Charles Thurston, Oscar
Barck, Dr. Edward Hagaman Hall, and other volunteer
assistants, who from time to time have become interested
in the subject.

It has been realized by those who have joined in this
work that the opportunity of discovery of buried remains
was but brief, as the building of streets and residences
had proceeded in the Washington Heights district with
great rapidity. This process has, however, aided the
work materially since the heavy excavations for the
opening of public streets and for construction of dwell¬
ing have often afforded the means of discovery of traces
deeply buried below the surface. Persistent attention
has, however, been necessary, and quite as much time
has been spent in searching observation of the surface
as in the actual work of excavation.

Our object has been throughout, the true purpose of
archaeologic research, the establishment of the methods
and purposes of the successive occupants of the region,
with the comparison of the materials and the forms of
construction which have been found at different points.
The relics recovered have derived an added value by the
careful record which has been maintained of the locality
in which they were found, first by the comparative in¬
formation thus preserved, and secondly, by the personal
interest aroused in the visitors to the collections by the
association of these objects with well-known streets and
buildings.

In this connection, the recording of the positions of
discoveries, and their plotting on maps, has been a part
of the work which has been thought to be desirable in

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