Sinkhole Reveals 19th-Century Well in Boston Park

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS—CBS News reports that a sinkhole in Boston’s Ronan Park has revealed a nineteenth-century well. “The way the well is positioned in the ground, it is currently under about ten feet of fill that was brought to the site to create Ronan Park in 1912,” explained City of Boston archaeologist Joe Bagley. Recent rain opened up the sinkhole, he added. The land where the well is located was developed in 1818 by cabinet- and piano maker John F. Pierce. In 1871, the property was taken over by Mary L. Pierce, a widow who may have been a relative of John F. Pierce. Bagley thinks the well could have been dug by either of these owners. “The well would have likely been abandoned in the 1870s to 1890s, when this area received running water for the first time from Boston Water and Sewer,” he said. City officials will make sure the drainage structures are intact before the sinkhole is backfilled. To read about another find from Boston, go to "Artifact."