For years, whenever we have given tours throughout the Gungywamp, we have passed by a small ledge area in the northwest section that has stood out as a very likely spot for another Indian site. It is only about 15 feet off the path and it is smaller than our more "famous" Indian ledge site pictured below, which is roughly 200 yards away from the smaller ledge.

After years of passing by the smaller ledge site and taking a mental note of "we've gotta dig there sometime to see if anything can be found," we finally organized an excavation last year and hit gold (well, so to speak).

As seen below, we opened up two excavation squares, 3 x 3 feet each. There was a number of small rocks dug up which had broken off from the ledge roof above or washed down from the sloping hillside on either side of the small ledge. There was also one large boulder which had to be removed.

New ledge site, looking north (Fall 2007)

New ledge site, looking south (Fall 2007)

The sifter was just about ready to be dumped when a small white quartz Indian point (arrowhead) was found, measuring just over an inch in length. The point had come out of Pit 2, at a depth of 4 inches. This was the evidence we needed to confirm that this smaller ledge demonstrated an Indian presence in or around this site. The presence of the small white quartz point could indicate that the ledge was used by Indians as a hunt site and shelter. The quartz point could have been purposely discarded or accidentally left behind. Or, the quartz point could have originated from a wounded small game animal (such as a squirrel, raccoon, or opossum) that had been shot by an Indian but had escaped capture and sought shelter in the ledge. If an animal had been wounded by the quartz point it could have either chewed away its flesh to dislodge the point (if the point was not deeply imbedded in the animal), or the wounded animal could have died in the ledge with the point imbedded in its body.

Indian point found at new ledge site (side A)

Indian point found at new ledge site (side B)

Several bits of charcoal were also found, but because of the history of fires in the Gungywamp, these bits of charcoal could have originated from root burn. Consequently there will not be any carbon dating of the charcoal since there is no way to indicate if they originated by campfire or by forest fire.

Connecticut State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni has been updated on our work and discoveries at this new site of excavation in the Gungywamp. The Gungywamp Society will continue its excavation at this ledge site throughout 2008 and most likely into 2009.

To read, see, and hear the tour that Gungywamp Society researcher Bill Dopirak gave to Catie Talarski of Connecticut Public Broadcasting, published February 29, 2008, click here: http://www.cpbn.org/gungy-what

Regional Stone Structures:

Goblin mines of Chatham, a Stone Tunnel, and the Hopemead Chamber

William J. Dopirak, Jr.

Assistant Professor of Natural Science

Three Rivers Community College

Spring 2008

Cobalt mine: Cobalt, CT

Just outside of Connecticut valley, in a town formerly known as Chatham, CT (known now as Cobalt), lies the ruins of an abandoned mine. Just east of Portland, roughly one mile north of route #66, at the eastern foot of Great Hill, open mines shafts, tunnels (Fig. 1), and stone structures are all that remain.

Rare ores have been taken from this mine. Gov. John Winthrop, Jr., in the late 1600's, reportly extracted gold from this mine (Pawloski, 2006). Harte (1944), reports Governor Winthrop smelted enough of the gold to make a ring. Great hill was formerly called "The hill of the Governor's ring."

Trapp (2001), refers to John Winthrop, Jr. as an alchemist, who once collected an unusual rock from New London; he called this columbite. Nearly 200 years after, Charles Hatchett (1801) analyzed the specimen, to discover a new element called Columbium (Cb = #41)

In an American Mineralogist article, published in 1921, Earl V. Shannon mentions that this mine is one of the many diverse types of metal deposits in New England. Nickel, iron, sulfur, zinc, cobalt, chathamite, and gold were reportedly extracted from this mine. Three German immigrants opened the mine in the mid-1700's and shipped most of the ore to England and China.

Referred to as "The Goblin mines of Chatham, Connecticut," this productive mine was in operation from 1762 to 1850. When cobalt is extracted from this ore, through smelting processes, it creates an 'evil odor.' The name 'Cobalt' derived from the German word 'Kobold.' This word appears in German Folklore. Kobold was an evil sprite (apparently where goblins and gremlins originate from). German miners saw this ore as troublesome and worthless, until its uses were fully known.

In 1780, the element Cobalt was recognized as Co = #27. Cobalt ore is coupled often with sulfides and arsenides (arsenic derivatives). This 'Kolbold ore' was first used to color pottery and glass. Low grade ore was also found to counteract the yellowing of laundry (Trapp 2001). Cobalt sulphate today is used in electroplating, in batteries (Hayashi et al. 2003), and as a drying agent in 'fast-dry' paints and varnishes.

Images: Bill Dopirak

Fig. 1. Abandoned mine, extending over 120 feet; a) looking in, b) looking out.

There are (at least) three vertical mine shafts within the complex (Fig. 2.). Two of which apparently were directly associated to the mine that exploited a large deposit (vein) of cobalt.

Image: Bill Dopirak

Fig. 2. One of a few abandoned mine shafts of Cobalt Mine.

All vertical shafts have been fenced in.

The vertical mine shafts (above) are adjacent to stone channels, or aisles, to accept mining carts and wooden scaffoldings (Fig. 3). Flanking the ruins of the stone aisles is a large stone wall that is embedded at the top of three tiers (Fig. 4).

Image: Bill Dopirak

Fig. 3. Cobalt Mine ruins. Stone aisles would accept miner carts.

Image: Bill Dopirak

Fig. 4. The ruins of a mine that had exploited a vein of cobalt ore.

The Cobalt Mine ruins are terraced. This would imply it to be an elevation mine (Fig. 5). The cobalt ore would be taken out of a shaft (or tunnel) and brought to the highest point of a wooden structure for processing. Gravity would ease the transport through the different levels of the mine, and the smelting processes to purify the cobalt.

Fig. 5. Proposed diagram of "the Goblin Mine of Chatham, CT." Redrawn from a sketch of Old Mine Park in Trumbull (F. Chesson and Hobbs, 1901: In, Pawloski 2006).

Stone Tunnel under Avery Hill Road: Ledyard, CT

A 20+ foot stone tunnel can be found under Avery Hill Road, in Ledyard's Glacial Park (Fig. 6). The exact origin and purpose for this tunnel remains a mystery. Perhaps the tunnel was built by the earliest inhabitants of this area and used as storage for winter livestock feed. Perhaps this stone tunnel was part of the "underground railroad," where southern slaves took refuge. The only record found of it mentions, "Perhaps used as a cattle crossing" (Shelburn1979). However, due to the small dimensions of this tunnel, it seems unlikely for cattle (Fig. 7). Sheep could have used this tunnel for crossing.

Mysterious stone chambers can be found all over this area. Hunt's Brook on Fire Street, in Montville, has quite a few chambers of unknown origin. In addition to stone chambers the enigmatic Gungywamp Complex hosts a variety of human produced stone structures.

Fig. 6. Stone tunnel under Avery Hill Road, in Glacial Park (Kettlehole site)

Fig. 7. "Glacier" and "Hilde" leaving the stone tunnel

Hopemead State Park & Recreation Area: Montville, CT

Hopemead State recreation area is owned by the State of Connecticut and is situated on the Montville shores of Gardner Lake. Gardner Lake is a naturally formed lake. The Honey Hill fault line runs directly under the lake that displaced the land below the water table. This is the same fault line that is in close proximity to Gungywamp Hill, and may be responsible for any magnetic anomalies there.

According to Chase (2004), early records refer to Gardner Lake as "Oplinsk," but it was more commonly known as "Twenty-mile Pond." On a 1780 map of Salem, Gardner Lake is referred to as Mason Lake (Corriveau 2006).

A well-constructed stone chamber (root cellar) can be found in Hopemead Park, on Gardner Lake (Fig. 8). Bellantoni et al. (1996), recommended that all stone structures (within the Hopemead complex) remain intact until historical research and archaeological testing can be determine whether these features are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. No present listing can be found in the National Register.

Image: Bill Dopirak

Fig. 8. Hopemead Chamber on Gardner Lake

This stone structure was apparently used as storage for winter livestock feed. The close proximity to Gardner Lake would provide easy harvesting of ice (Fig. 9).

Image: Bill Dopirak

Fig. 9. Located on the East-Northeast Shore of Gardner Lake, with its Southerly

facing entrance, this chamber is a chief candidate for acting as a colonial icehouse.

a) b)

Images: Bill Dopirak

Fig. 10. Inside the Hopemead Chamber. a) Outside looking in b) Inside looking out

("Glacier" outside of the Hopemead chamber)

Glacier (1997-2008)

You have brought me to places that I never would have traveled.

Thank you my friend.

Literature cited:

Bellantoni, N., J. Cruz, N. Gray, D. McKay, B. Murphy, and W. Sawicki 1996. Eastern

Connecticut Environmental Review Team Report: Hopemead State Park Recreational

Area, Montville, CT. Eastern Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development,

Haddam, CT. 46p.

Chase, J. B. 2004. Images of America: Montville. Arcadia Publishing. 128p.

Corrivean, C. L. 2006. Images of America: Salem. Arcadia Publishing. 128p.

Harte, C.R. 1944. Connecticut's minor metals and her minerals. Presented at 60^th Annual

Meeting of the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers.

Hayashi, K., T. Yamanda, N. Morishita, & K. Ito. 2003. Cobalt compound for use in

alkaline storage battery, method for manufacturing the same, and positive electrode

plate of alkaline storage battery employing the same. US Patent 7166391

Pawloski, J.A. 2006. Images of America: Connecticut Mining. Arcadia Publishing. 128p.

Shannon, E.A. 1921. The old cobalt mine in Chatham, Conn. American Mineralogist.

Vol 6: 89-90.

Shelburn, J. 1979. Ledyard Glacial Park: Environmental review team report.

Easter Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development Area, Inc.,

Norwich, Connecticut. 23p.

Trapp, D. 2001. Origins of the Element Names: Names derived from mythology or

superstition. <ONLINE> http://homepage.mac.com/dtrapp/elements/myth.html

Isolated Gungywamp in northwest Groton displays irregular ridges, scattered colonial sites, meandering stone walls and some mysterious stone remains. Interspersed with bog and swamp, the land has remained undeveloped for centuries.

Thanks to research by Nancy and George Jackson and Bill Linke, we know that Nathaniel Adams Sr., purchased 53 acres there in 1739. In the next century the Latham family acquired that land from Nathaniel's grandson Samuel. Clarence Latham and his sister Elizabeth, who received the property from their father in 1888, bequeathed it to the New London YMCA in 1937.

Clarence Latham cherished his cranberry bog on his Gungywamp property. Cranberry vines persist to this day along the edges of the old YMCA basketball court. We also have Latham Lake on the site to remember the family.

Before Gungywamp belonged to the YMCA its rugged terrain was a magnet for Groton youth, including the three Trail brothers, 16-year-old Henry Spicer Trail, 10-year-old John, and Dick, 8. Their father had a woodlot there. Henry, the oldest, called "Spike," was a Boy Scout. He spent summers with Mohegan sachem Harold Tantaquidgeon, wearing a beaded breast plate and a loin cloth. Spike made cornmeal using a mortar and pestle, learned Indian dances and some of the language and called himself "Rising Sun."

When Grandma Spicer was bedridden with a stroke in 1935 she gave 16-year-old Spike her Nash touring car, complete with running board. The three brothers set off in the car for Gungywamp. Spike was a patient big brother who enjoyed caring for the younger boys. He let 8-year-old Dick drive the Nash up dangerous Crooked "S" Hill. Dick remembers that he had to stand up to touch the gas pedal. On the narrow wooded road he ripped a fender off the Nash, but Spike just said, "Don't worry about it; we'll get it on the way back."

The trail boys often camped out at Gungywamp, first in a leanto Spike built, and later in an Indian longhouse. Finally they constructed a 16-foot-square cabin on a hillside in the middle of the Gungywamp, using slabs from a nearby sawmill. For heat they built a large fireplace. They found a stone slab 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 18 inches thick for the hearthstone, hauling it up the hill with the faithful Nash. They cut small logs for rollers and put them under the slab to move the stone along while Spike drove. They had to cut an opening in the cabin to get the stone inside.

The fireplace was flagstone and they invested in a clay flue. To fit it they broke through the roof. While mixing cement for the thin, flat flagstones they ran out of water, but they solved the problem by urinating into the bucket to wet the mixture. To finish the job they added a loft above the fireplace for sleeping, which proved to be very warm for winter camping. Sadly the cabin later burned in a forest fire. Spike, an Air Force veteran of World War II, died in New Hampshire in 1991.

Another Groton youth, Don Smith, who grew up on Thames Street, enjoyed camping beside the lake at Gungywamp in the 1940s after the property had been deeded to the YMCA. With permission from the director he went there, riding his bike to the site. He remembers a dirt lane which led back to the dam. At one end of the dam was a concrete assembly grooved to allow ten foot boards to be slipped in to control the lake level. He often stopped to talk with an old man who lived in a small shack. Don was careful to wear boots on those camping trips; he saw snakes which he thought were copperheads. Years later, in 1951, Don tried to check out his old Gungywamp haunt but a watchman refused to allow him on the property.

Gungywamp is posted now, with trespassing forbidden. I've heard that much of the land may be acquired by the State of Connecticut for preservation. That would be a happy solution.

Stonewatch editor's note: We wish to thank Carol Kimball for her article and for her permission to reprint the article in our Stonewatch newsletter. Members of the Gungywamp Society have written permission from the YMCA and verbal permission from the surrounding long-time landowners to take tours and conduct excavations in the Gungywamp lands. We do urge caution that there is one landowner on the far north end of the Gungywamp who requests that no visitors come onto his property. For that reason, those interested in participating in tours or excavations of the Gungywamp (or who likewise have permission from the landowners), should contact the Gungywamp Society and Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center to arrange a date. At one time we tried to cease giving tours because of busy schedules, but we've kept getting so many requests that we had a hard time saying "no" to folks! We are now teamed up with the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center to offer occasional tours throughout the year.

Regarding Ms. Kimball's mention of the YMCA's part of the Gungywamp land possibly being acquired by the State of Connecticut, for several years Gungywamp board member and researcher Paulette Buchanan has stayed in good contact with the head of the State's Land Acquisition Office and, as of 2007, the land transfer is still being considered but that there are technicalities that have yet to be worked out. That, in addition to the State's budgetary concerns, may result in more delays in the YMCA land transfer of the Latham estate to the State. In any case, what is most important is that the Gungywamp lands and their important historical sites have remained preserved, and that is the primary mission of the Gungywamp Society and the land owners of the Gungywamp.