A Connection to History

Facebook friend and racer David Reininger flagged an interesting item for me yesterday. This is an interesting account of how White Oak wood planks from a pier that apparently once stood in front of the Montauk home of race driver Caleb Bragg, Yale graduate born into a family of tremendous wealth. Bragg caught the racing bug early on and embarked on a career as a race driver. He raced in three Indianapolis 500s without much success, but enjoyed victories elsewhere, including the American Grand Prize in 1912.
 
Indianapolis Motor Speedway founder Carl Fisher was a major force in the development of the area and through a series of misfortunes and over extending himself it led to his financial ruin. Aside from racing personalities, the article is interesting in that it discusses the preservation of the White Oak wood packed in the muddy bottom of low oxygen water - and how it is now being harvested to sell as building materials. The material is remarkably well preserved with unique color and marine worm trails acquired through its long storage in a natural repository.