Rooted in tradition · Exploring the future Vol. 45 · Issue #15 Thursday, February 23, 2012 Loyalist College · Belleville, ON · Canada Digging into Belleville’s history Archaeologist shares findings at meeting of Historical Society By Carleen Schmidt Archeologists have unearthed a pos- sible tavern on one lot in Belleville and findings at another lot suggest that the family living there may have been in mourning. “We opened up as many questions as we answered,” said Nick Gromoff, founder of Ground Truth Archaeol- ogy. These findings were from an ar- cheological dig conducted at the new courthouse location on James Street and Bridge Street in Belleville. Gromoff presented the findings at the Hastings County Historical So- ciety’s general meeting at the Quinte Living Centre on Feb. 21. “The excavation started in fall 2009 and ended in summer 2010,” said Gromoff. The presence of the colour black was found in beads, ceramics and hair combs. “Blackness is intriguing. It is Photo by Chloë Ellingson not a typical colour,” said Gromoff, Aristeidis Maroulis works at Olympic 76 Restaurant, originally started by his uncles, who have since moved back to Greece. who added that they believe some of the family living there may have been in mourning, which would explain Local Greeks discuss the country’s economic crisis: the presence of the colour black. There was also evidence showing the presence of children - marbles, a little doll and 30-40 slate pencil ends and slate boards were found, which is a high number meaning there may Reflections on Greece have been a little school there at some point. By Chloë Ellingson don’t need to borrow anymore money. Let Fountoukis says Kefalonia’s main in- immigration regulations. “Right now it’s Gromoff spoke to a large audience us do it.” dustry is tourism, and that was his busi- not easy,” he says. of about 100 people. There was ob- As Greece continues to endure economic Three years ago, Fountoukis left his ness. He owned and operated four res- Fountoukis doesn’t know why Greece viously a lot of interest in the topic. turmoil, members of the local Greek com- life on the large Greek island of Kefalonia taurants that collectively employed 70 isn’t bankrupt already after years of it be- Usually only about 60 people attend munity reflect on life in Greece, life in Can- with his wife and three children to return people. “Now 70 people have to look for ing threatened. He wishes Greece would the meeting, but all the chairs were ada, and what it takes to survive. to his native Canada. The child of Greek jobs,” says Fountoukis. He hears from declare bankruptcy and return to its for- full and people were standing. ••• immigrants, he spent his early life in them all too often. mer currency. “If we go back to the drach- To construct a dig, archeologists “Before the Euro, we didn’t have a Montreal, returning to Greece as a young “Everyday I receive phone calls,” he ma,” he says, “Greece is going to be in the mostly use toothbrushes and wa- problem,” said Kanellos Fountoukis last boy. Greece is where he built his life, and says. They all ask about working for him right place.” ter and sometimes alcohol for cer- week in the kitchen of his Wellington res- much of his family is still there. in Canada, or if he knows of any jobs ••• tain items. According to Gromoff, taurant. The then imminent recent Greek “I came back for my kids’ future,” he here. He’d like to bring former employees though there isn’t any one item that bailout is, in his opinion, backwards. “We says. to Canada, but says he can’t because of ...See Greece, page 2 is most significant. The artifacts that help identify time periods, or what was going on there, are the most interesting. There were a lot of findings includ- ing ash, brick, coins, and buttons of all sorts, plates and smoking pipes. Archives making move to new digs The archeologists also found bones from white-tailed deer, ducks, geese, operating out of the former Thurlow town turkey, passenger pigeons and local Historical Society hall on Cannifton Road North for the fish. works on getting capital past 10 years, in a small space troubled by There were a couple different lots humidity, pests and structural issues. that they excavated on the property. to pay for building At its present location the community Lot eight is the first Gromoff dis- archives has about 2,300 square feet of cussed. He talked about the history of By Joanna Becket useable space. the property owners, which was used The new Church Street site will house to try to find out what was there pre- “An archives, as it turns out, is a bit like about 8,000 square feet of useable space. viously and talked about people who Rome. Can’t be built in a day,” wrote Or- The archives currently maintains col- had come by when the dig was going land French, former president, Hastings lections of prints and negatives, maps, on and shared their memories of the County Historical Society, in an opinion plans, architectural drawings, newspa- property. piece in The Belleville Intelligencer last pers, microfilm, ledger books and family At the second lot on the site, Gro- November. scrapbooks. moff did the same, showed histori- This is the public stage of the capital This past summer, The Belleville Intel- cal records of people who lived there campaign headed up by French to move ligencer added an additional 900 bound previously and showed photographs the Hastings County Historical Society volumes of newspapers, covering the pe- of the excavation. The archeologists community archives to a new location at riod from the 1880s to 2011. found a brick furnace with char- the Irish Hall on Church Street. “We have half a ton, about 900 vol- coals and ash, possibly from a smoke French has found that although com- umes, so all together we have over 1,000 house, and found meat hooks as well. petition for the donor’s dollar is stiff, bound volumes of The Belleville Intel- Numerous foot bones from cows were Belleville residents are stepping up with ligencer. The Intelligencer also donated also found. private donations towards the estimated their photographs and negatives,” said the Later in the excavation, it became $1.2 million required to build and equip archivist Sharon White. apparent that one of the deep pits dug a new site for the community’s historical “It’s been estimated that the archives by the archeologists was a root cellar documents. has approximately one million negatives. with barrel scraps, sand and even a What sets this cause apart from other More than half of them are from the Intel- trap door with a hinge and bolt. appeals for support, said French, is that ligencer,” said White. Lot one had to have gravel re- it’s a one-stage appeal. “The biggest issue is space, the amount moved for excavation. Gromoff “We’re raising money for a capital of space and also the organization of showed the history of home own- campaign to create an archives and space,” she said. So the new building will ers starting with James McNabb and once the archives is complete, we’re not have most of the archival records stored found cutlery, pipes, coins, buttons going to come back in a year to the pub- in a dedicated storage vault and it’s called from hunting jackets and military lic and say we want more money, be- a vault because it’s secure. buttons from this site. Stoneware cause the city and the county have tak- “It has environmental controls to mon- jugs were found from local Belleville en on the responsibility of running it.” itor temperature, humidity and air qual- merchants. They believe this site It’s all in the name of preserving the ity. That’s one of the things that make it may have been a tavern. past. a bit more costly than just building an Gromoff showed a slideshow at “If you don’t preserve the past, then office building, because you need to have the meeting on the archeological as- you have no community record of where these special controls.” sessment process in Ontario. There you come from,” said French. Most of the shelving will be in the main are four stages. The first stage has “I think this is especially important for halls that are two storeys high and will be a background study conducted and students, for those who study history, and designed to fill that space. tries to assess the property. Stage for historians. People who are interested “The shelving is very specialized. It two is the assessment of the property Photo by Joanna Becket in genealogy, for example, really appreci- will be fitted to meet our requirements to to find archaeological sites by going ate the kind of information they find in make the most efficient use of the space,” Sharon White, the archivist at Hastings County Historical Society Community out and looking for evidence on the archives,” he said. said White. Archives on Cannifton Road North, stands before the Belleville Intelligencer’s property. The Hastings County Historical Soci- “I hope the new archives will be more recent donation of newspapers going back to the 1880s. “We received half a Stage three is when Gromoff came ety partnered with the City of Belleville spacious and there will be more things ton, about 900 volumes, so altogether we have over 1,000 bound volumes of in.