Tuesday, December 20, 2016

About town - A few questions

From around town:

147 Walnut Street:  
One 15-foot deep hole in the ground, six feet in diameter, with no barricades, fencing, or caution tape . . .

 plus an unsecured gate, equals...

?


  320 North Third Street

What commodities or services are provided here?


17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hopefully the concerned photographer closed the gate !

Anonymous said...

Would not 320 N 3rd st. be in a zoning violation if they operate a business without a hearing?

Joe Lintner said...

The concerned photographer doesn't touch private property.

Anonymous said...

I love the photos on here and the people that are concerned enough to keep us informed!
Keep up the good work and bah humbug to the Negative Nellies.

Anonymous said...

Not in Columbia, rules and regulations do not apply.

Anonymous said...

so sad - five feet to go and it gets filled back in

Watcher said...

Here's the ownership according to the county: http://lancasterpa.devnetwedge.com/view/RE/1106103800000/2016

Anonymous said...

Who said it needs filled back in?
What happened, did someone make them stop?
Did they have permission?
How did they know where to dig?
If they have the owners permission or actually own the land and someone is making them fill it back in, I would pay for some sand at the quarry across the river to refill it. That way, it will be MUCH easier to re-excavate when they are ready and have permission(if that's whats going on). Putting dirt back in would be ridiculous IF there are ANY future plans of re-exploring. What a shame, I would love to see what was at the bottom.

Anonymous said...

the boro just bought this lot i think it is going to be another parking lot. i dont think they had anything to do with the hole being dug out

Joe Lintner said...

Yes, it's been filled in.

Anonymous said...

Professionals were doing the digging, but regardless a hole that large should have some warning around it if the plan is to keep it open for an extended period of time.

Anonymous said...

there were definitely more artifacts to be had - the dirt wasn't even sifted before it went back in - neighbors were grabbing bottles as it was being filled back in - something or someone must have triggered them to fill it back in - it was a gem of a dig in progress - beautiful brick work could have made a historic landmark ( still could ) - it's only dirt and rocks - not concrete (yet)

Anonymous said...

Someone said the entire early 1800's tavern was leveled and pushed in to the basement hole and covered with dirt, and that's what the ground is so un-even. There's probably fifty thousand dollars worth of early artifacts down there !

Anonymous said...

Over the winter months the ground will become too hard to continue digging. How long were they planning to keep the hole open? If they cannot continue the dig until spring, then it should be filled in until that time. An attractive nuisance in close proximity to a park.

Radical rag said...

The property has a fence around it!! When they do road work..they use steel plates to cover the hole.. this is a historic dig to find columbia history.. put a steel plate over the hole so nobody jumps the fence to fall in the hole!!

Anonymous said...

The Boro purchased this land???
Good grief,,, We need police not more Boro owned property!!

Anonymous said...

This privy was from the 1880's and nothing valuable was found in the dig. I am familiar with all diggers in Columbia and in constant contact with them. This round cesspool is not historical compared to a 1750-1850 privy, where historic Columbia settler artifacts can be found.

As for digging in the Winter, it is the prime time to dig for artifacts due to the water table is low. Archaeologists dig foundations, where the only artifacts found are the building and foundation ruins. Privy's can give us of growth of family,foundation and wealth in layers of time. It is the most amazing project's to watch, where hundred's and thousand's of artifacts can be unearthed

The Columbia Historic Preservation Society has a vast collections donated from these hard working diggers. They are probably the foremost experts of glassware in Central Pennsylvania and good friends of the museum.

Thanks for your insight, where the safety of person(s) are always on the mind of the diggers.

Christopher A. Vera
Director/ Columbia Historic Preservation Society
PO Box 578
Columbia, Pennsylvania 17512
(717)572-7149 (C)
(717)684-2894 (M)