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Old Slip and Cruger’s Wharf at New York: An archaeological perspective of the Colonial American waterfront

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Abstract

In 1969 the removal of an entire block of filled land adjacent to Old Slip in Manhattan during construction of a new building revealed a sequence of soil deposits dating from about 1690 to 1800. Sampling of these soil layers indicated deposition during successive periods of land filling in the area, before and after the construction of Cruger’s Wharf at this location in 1739 and 1740. Old Slip provides an example of a type of Dutch-influenced waterfront development beginning in the late 17th century that contrasts with development of the waterfront in Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities initially settled by the English. Colonial American city waterfront development differed distinctively, on the other hand, from English precedents.

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Huey, P.R. Old Slip and Cruger’s Wharf at New York: An archaeological perspective of the Colonial American waterfront. Hist Arch 18, 15–37 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374037

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