pookrat Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Yeah. Just kinda starange. Maybe they are part of the same structure. Cause that quote is coming from the same person who has pictures of the door to the vault on his site as well... I dunno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disastro Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 When my girl left me, I crept into the crypt and cried. I hope you're more butch now! Kidding...just kidding... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neuman Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Yeah. Just kinda starange. Maybe they are part of the same structure. Cause that quote is coming from the same person who has pictures of the door to the vault on his site as well... I dunno.Yeah, and maybe the aliens built it after they finished the pyramids. I didn't think that I had to come out and say it but, apparently, I do - THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY THAT THIS IS THE DONNELLAN VAULT. Whew, that makes me feel better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northbeaumont Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 I hope you're more butch now! Kidding...just kidding... What is "butch?" I've heard that word applied to mannish women. How do you mean it? I got that line from a record by Homer & Jethro. In the song, a guy in Egypt had a job building a pyramid. His girlfriend left him for the Pharoah. So he went inside the pyramid, and he "crept into the crypt and cried." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porphyrula Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Yeah, and maybe the aliens built it after they finished the pyramids. I didn't think that I had to come out and say it but, apparently, I do - THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY THAT THIS IS THE DONNELLAN VAULT. Whew, that makes me feel better.I gotta agree with you, but it was certainly fun getting to that conclusion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuardGuy Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 If i recall i believe there used to be a Texas Historical Plaque located on Commerce between Travis and Milam on the Northern part of the street. Basically in the area by the new entrance with a canoe structure. It was removed when they remade the street and in parking spots. There is a tree next to where the plaque was located. It stated that 2 people were killed when they hit an artillery shell from a sunken ship in the area. The bodies were removed but the ship is still buried there. The ship was heading back/from Galveston. I have posted the question about the plaque about 8 months back. This was only a block away from the current crypt.Do you mean this plaque? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREASER Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 how deep WAS the bayou? How deep is it now...I just cant imagine a ship (I imagine more of a small boat) would go down the bayou...I realize it has changed some, but damn, deep enough to conceal a ship? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neuman Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 how deep WAS the bayou? How deep is it now...I just cant imagine a ship (I imagine more of a small boat) would go down the bayou...I realize it has changed some, but damn, deep enough to conceal a ship?Making an educated guess, I would say that the bayou is 10-12 feet deep. Some blockade runners had a draft as shallow as 4 feet and a low freeboard to avoid detection by those damned Yankee blockaders! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoriginalkj Posted December 20, 2007 Author Share Posted December 20, 2007 how deep WAS the bayou? How deep is it now...I just cant imagine a ship (I imagine more of a small boat) would go down the bayou...I realize it has changed some, but damn, deep enough to conceal a ship?The various internet descriptions of where the ship sank only say things like "short of the Allen's Landing dock" or such things, which could mean that the ship is in the general vicinity of the Franklin Street Bridge. Does anyone know where it is exactly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neuman Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 (edited) The various internet descriptions of where the ship sank only say things like "short of the Allen's Landing dock" or such things, which could mean that the ship is in the general vicinity of the Franklin Street Bridge. Does anyone know where it is exactly?If memory serves me, it was located between the Travis and Milam street bridges, roughly where the historical marker once stood. There was an archeological "dig" in the late 1960's that recovered some artifacts from the ship. The book "Treasure's of Galveston Bay" has a section on the ship and the recovery of artifacts. I'll dig it out tonight. Edited December 20, 2007 by neuman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Here are a couple of the articles referenced: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatesdisastr Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 (edited) Yeah, and maybe the aliens built it after they finished the pyramids. I didn't think that I had to come out and say it but, apparently, I do - THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY THAT THIS IS THE DONNELLAN VAULT. Whew, that makes me feel better.I gotta agree with you, but it was certainly fun getting to that conclusion!I wrote Louis Aulbach, the guy who wrote "Buffalo Bayou: An Echo Of Houston's Wilderness Beginnings" about the controversy over the brewery and vault. This is what he said, "The ruins of the Magnolia Building (the former Magnolia Brewery) are located on the downstream edge of the modern Franklin Avenue bridge while the Donnellan Grave Vault is directly under the bridge."Hope that helps clarify, or maybe fuel the fire. Either or. Edited March 7, 2011 by fatesdisastr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I wrote Louis Aulbach, the guy who wrote "Buffalo Bayou: An Echo Of Houston's Wilderness Beginnings" about the controversy over the brewery and vault. This is what he said, "The ruins of the Magnolia Building (the former Magnolia Brewery) are located on the downstream edge of the modern Franklin Avenue bridge while the Donnellan Grave Vault is directly under the bridge."Hope that helps clarify, or maybe fuel the fire. Either or.Oh, let's fuel it.How close is this to the reconstruction near the new Houston Ballet building? Is the new bridge near this site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) That's a block away. The crypt entrance can be seen from the street level during the day in a small railed opening on the edge of the bank's parking lot. I've marked the crypt location here. You can stand at this spot on the rail to see the crypt. Note the ballet center construction in the background.Recently someone has spray-painted RIP on the crypt door. It's really annoying. Edited March 8, 2011 by kylejack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesparks Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Well we went down there today myself and my two 7yr old sons and it is as everyone says quite awesome and creepy , not a trip for everyone as the embankment is rather steep but if you can make it it is a sight to see. The only drawback is my kids probably wont be able to sleep tonight...it scared the crap out of them...lol We highly recommend it not only is it a ghost trek but a historical one to boot we will surely go back...enjoy the updated pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little frau Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Thanks for the new photos. I would have expected more debris down there. Perhaps it's been washed away by all the rain lately.I have a question now: From the newspaper clips posted by sevfiv it would seem that there were 4 people killed by unexploded bombs.However, after reading the article by Louis Aulbach posted here in Dec 2007 ( by wendyps), I believe that someone, whoever wrote the "Bottle Neck" cleaning article, was mixing information. Either that, or Louis Aulbach was unaware of any children that Thurston John Donnellan lost to a similar accident that took the life of Thurston's older brother Henry.The following is from Louis Aulbach's piece:Timothy Donnellan, the father and one of the early Houston settlers, died in 1849 and was buried in a vault on the "south bank of Buffalo Bayou at the west end of Franklin" according to Aulbach.Henry Donnellan, first born son of Timothy was born in 1838 in New Orleans.Thurston (Thuse) Donnellan, last born son of Timothy was born in 1845 in Houston. Second son Benjamin had apparently died young.In February 1867, Henry Donnellan and his business partner A.C. Richer were playing with an unexploded bomb when it detonated, blowing off Richer's arms and legs and seriously wounding Donnellan. Both men later died and Henry was buried in the vault with his father.In 1875 Thurston Donnellan married Jessamine Hawthorne. In Aulbach's article there is no mention of their having any children.Thurston Donnellan died in 1908. Jessamine Donnellan died in a Houston hospital in 1937.Aulbach does state that in December 1901, the Donnellan family remains were removed from the vault by Wall and Stabe Undertakers and re-interred in Glenwood Cemetery although he does not provide a reference to the information source.The second newspaper article in post #41 says that two young boys, sons of Thuse Donolon (sic) were killed while playing with an unexploded bomb. I'd have thought that there would be something in that newspaper article about the same type accidental death of Thuse's older brother Henry.Of course, maybe Louis Aulbach got it all wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neuman Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Does anybody REALLY believe that a crypt from 1849 was left in place when the bridge was constructed in 1907? Even if this was not a part of the brewery (which I still believe that it was) every building in this area had a basement that this could have been a part of. The "fact" that a majority was on the downstream edge of the modern bridge is not proof that this was not part of the brewery. The 1907 bridge was built by the brewery and included part of the building. The "balcony" of old Power Tools (I know that I'm dating myself with that!) is part of the brewery and built into the bridge under street level.Finally, if anyone has ever seen a brick from the 1840's, they look nothing like those that construct this supposed crypt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Well, it does seem to be the right location. The family sued the city for desecrating the tomb while building Franklin and won the costs to re-inter the bodies elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 This crypt is located under the Franklin Street bridge over the Buffalo Bayou. It was initially the burial site of the early 19th century settlers, the Donnellan family, until their remains were moved to another location. Last I heard, this was an abandoned site, but I've been warned that it may be owned by someone; is it, though? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenjive Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 I'm not sure who it would be owned by, other than maybe the city. It's rather difficult to get to, canoe and waders are in order. I used to go to a club on Franklin (Cabaret Voltaire/Scream) that had an outside area that was basically under the Franklin bridge and the crypt is just a few feet away. At the time, I had no idea it was there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 It's very easy to get to now that the new TIGER trail connection between Sesquicentennial Park and Allen's Landing is complete. Unfortunately, due to a complete lack of signage, most people will walk right past it without noticing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neuman Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 I find it very unlikely that this is the Donnellan crypt. If it ever existed at this location, it most likely was destroyed when the first bridge was built in 1885. Coincidentally, the brickwork of this structure looks to date from that period. The first reason that I doubt this to be the Donnellan vault is it's size. If this structure were built in 1849, it would dwarf most residences of the period. Furthermore, the thickness of the walls (4 bricks=30+ inches) is overkill, to say the least, for a one story burial vault. Based on the thickness, this was most likely the foundation for a building or the bridge. Secondly, if the Donnellans had built such a massive vault to bury their family wouldn't they also have their name on the structure? Assuming that this is the only entrance, shouldn't it be above the door? If you're going to spend the kind of money that this would have cost in 1849, you'd want people to know who it belonged to! If it was not the only entrance then the structure was originally even larger that previously thought, making it even more oversized for the period. Finally, why put the family vault down near the bayou? Before the construction of Addicks and Barker dams in the 1940's, the bayou flooded even more drastically than it does today. It would seem odd that they would want their loved ones deluged every time it flooded. Also, why have the entrance in such an inconvenient location? The street level has not changed drastically over the last 158 years, nor has the general geography of the bayou. I can only imagine pallbearers scampering down the embankment with a casket and then trying to squeeze it through that tiny door. Just my thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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