Golem Cave
For the past four months we have been spending time in the libraries and archives in preparation for our expedition. In that time, we amassed a list 103 different inscriptions and petroglyphs in stone across the northeast. Some of these are what I would refer to as historic graffiti. The most interesting inscriptions we uncovered have been the center of a debate of going back to the late 1600s.
Posted in Archaeological, Geology, Historical, Subterranean and tagged ancient, history, mysterious, petroglyphwith no comments yet.
There has been a debate in New England as to who were the first visitors to our shores. Centered in this debate are several inscriptions in stone that were found in the Narragansett Basin. The first was the well-known Dighton Rock which was initially recorded in 1680. After that, over 20 other inscriptions were discovered along the shores of southeastern New England. These inscriptions have inspired many theories concerning possible pre-colonial visitors. Such theories suggest Vikings, the Portuguese, the Chinese, the Phoenicians and even Irish monks were possibly the first people to set foot in the northeast.
In 2012 we began hunting down many of the lesser known rock inscriptions in the Narragansett Basin. So far we have located the Tiverton Petroglyphs, Mark Rock, the Portsmouth Cupstone, King’s Rock, and Leif’s Rock. We were able to find the inscriptions on all the stones but King’s and Leif’s Rocks. King’s Rock is currently covered by so much dirt and forest debris it will be difficult to locate the inscription if it does still exist.
Posted in Ancient New England, Archaeological, Historical and tagged bristol, folklore, inscription, Legend, Leif Erikson, norse, northman, runestone, vikingwith 4 comments.
Rumors of a lost cave in Monroe Connecticut have circulated for a long time. It has most likely been the inspiration for many young boys to explore the deep forest during those warm summer days. Tradition says that an adventuresome man named sharp stumbled onto a treasure hidden in a hillside of Monroe Connecticut. The story goes on to say that with 400’ of rope, Sharp explored the cave as far as safety would permit. What exactly he saw would remain a mystery. In the 1820s the cave was mined for Silver and limestone, but the ore acquired from it proved to be very poor quality. Eventually the mining ceased.
Posted in Archaeological, Cave, Historical, Legends & Folklore, Natural Wonders and tagged cave, connecticut, Folklore of New England, indian, Legends of New England, new england, new england folklore, strange new englandwith 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, but it is known as Goshen’s Counterfeiters 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 and tagged cave, Colonial, Counterfeiters, Goshen, mystery, root cellar, strange new england, treasure, tunnel, wellwith no comments yet.
Recently I was digging through the cold cases and decide to pull out the Smallpox den file. I had known of the den for over ten years. Though it was a fantastic story, all I was left with was the name of the town and brook it lies near. The brook stretched for miles through fields and forest. Without more clues it would be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. I thought I’d review the material to see if I could find something I might have missed.
Posted in Archaeological, Cave, Mysterious Landmarks, Weird Destinations and tagged cave, Den, Israel allen, Small Pox, strange new englandwith 1 comment.