Are War Heroes Buried Beneath A Gowanus Parking Lot?

A vacant lot located on 9th Street between 3rd & 4th Avenues in Gowanus may be the final resting place of hundreds of war heroes.

Many locals, historians, and even a celebrity—Sir Patrick Stewart, a Park Slope resident—argue that the site, occasionally used as a parking lot, may be the burial ground of The Maryland 400, a group of American Revolutionary War soldiers who fought back British troops during the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn, allowing General George Washington to escape to safety in Manhattan.

The site is slated to become a 180-seat pre-K school, however New York State’s historic preservation agency requires that the city first conduct an archeological dig of the site to search for the 240-year-old remains of war heroes before it can begin construction on the school, Brooklyn Paper reports.

Brooklyn historian Robert Furman told Pix11 News that it has long been believed that many members of The Maryland 400 who died during the Battle of Brooklyn were laid to rest at the 9th Street site.

William Parry, another historian and an Old Stone House board member has penned a report contradicting these claims. He states that the existence of such a mass grave in Brooklyn is unlikely and that the large final battle fought by these soldiers was more likely a series of smaller fights that took place across the borough, according to the Brooklyn Paper report.

The actor Patrick Stewart recently told GQ Magazine that the site is a “concreted-over car park, but underneath the concrete is the mass grave. It’s worth making, I think, a bit of a fuss of.”

Stewart adds that he’s personally asked Mayor Bill de Blasio to build a memorial for these fallen soldiers, according to GQ. The mayor reportedly told the thespian, “I’m on it.”

Let’s see if Stewart’s star power can sway the mayor.

What do you think? Will the remains of war heroes be exhumed from the dig?