The
fourth and principal Peat Bed occupied an enclosed basin north of 9th
Street in the midst of the old " Pigeon Ground," and laid in the way of
the proposed West Drive. It was found necessary to remove it entirely
and refill the depression to the desired grade with a more solid
material. Over 30,000 cubic yards of peat were removed from it.
This
" Peat Bed," then called a " swamp," was of an elongated, indented oval
form, 585 feet long, with a larger southerly and smaller northerly
area. A line drawn through it about centrally lengthwise was 1,600 feet
from Ninth Avenue and about parallel therewith. Therefore its length
lay in a northeast and southwest direction. The larger southerly end
reached within a few feet of the north side of Ninth Street and was 340
feet wide. The smaller northerly area was 140 feet wide. It was about
twelve feet deep in the middle of its larger area and about four feet
deep in the middle of its smaller area.
Its
was surrounded and covered by a vigorous growth of large trees, the
most prevalent being chestnut, white poplar, and oak. The older of
these had usually about 90 annular rings. Those standing upon the peat
had narrower rings and were of smaller diameter than those of like age
standing upon the surrounding ground. The former had widely spreading
roots, the latter deeply penetrating roots.
Dr.
Wallace Goold Levison and Mr. Elias Lewis, Jr. (deceased), devoted a
great deal of time in examinations of the geology and mineralogy, the
superficial features and changes of Brooklyn and Long Island. Their
papers were generally read at conferences of the Brooklyn Institute and
before the Long Island Historical Society, but have never been
published.
THE PRE-COLUMBIAN IN GREATER NEW YORK
When the white man reached the coasts of this New World he found it occupied by beings similar to himself. He may
