Spanish Hill

~History Of Waverly, Chapter IV, page 7, (second paragraph) Capt Charles Albertson, 1943

"The Andastes also had numerous villages and stockades as far south as the Chesapeake Bay, where Captain John Smith mentions in his "General History" having met them, and describes them as being "giants". This statement has been in doubt until recent years, when several skeletons of this departed race have been discovered, which tend to prove the truth of Smith's statement. When excavating for the Spalding Memorial Building at Athens (locally known as the Athens Library today) they exhumed a skeleton about eight feet in height, which can be seen in the collection immediately over where he had been buried several hundred years before...The Broadhead expedition in the summer of 1916 secured the skeletons of several of this people on Queen Esther's Flats near the public highway leading to Towanda about 1/2 mile west of the Chemung river Bridge at Athens; many or all of these remains indicated that they were about seven feet in height."

Obviously, there are no other references to this skeleton being 8ft tall, as Murray and Moorehead both claimed it was more like 6.5 - 7ft....Most importantly, is the point that it was there, and while I haven't been able to find a picture of the skeleton in the case, I am getting closer at least ~ I found the card that was in the case with him!

Case Card #1

Above: Actual card from the glass case the large skeleton was placed in form the Tioga Point Museum Opening in 1895

And remained there for many years...I remember seeing the skeletons on my 4th grade field trip!

This card was provided by the Tioga Point Museum

Case Card #2

Interestingly, there is a second card in the same folder...obviously for the same skeleton...I find it a little humorous that they kept changing how many years ago it was buried!

Use the following links to read more about the giant skeletons that were found: