A Morton Mystery

Archaeologists working under the south part of the house discovered evidence of early European use of the site, including a rectangular hole measuring 14'8" by 16'4". Its purpose remains unknown. It may have been someone's home or a temporary home built by Swedish or Finnish settlers. Old court records may offer one clue: a record dated April 3, 1679, says that Jan [unreadable] complained to the court that his son Erik was bereft of his senses and quite mad, and that as a poor man he was unable to maintain him, whereupon it was ordered that three or four persons be hired to build a little blockhouse at Amostand to put in the said madhouse. Whether the hole in the rock was connected to mad Erik will probably never be known. The site's history spans periods of Indian occupation, New Sweden, Dutch dominion, English rule, the Pennsylvania colony, Americans, suburban development, building restoration, and its present role as a historic park.

Prospect Park, Pennsylvania · United States