Historic World Trade Center Artifacts on Display Downtown Updated February 3, 2010 3:34pm

Believed keel of the Dutch vessel "Ornust" estimated to have sunk in1613. (DNAinfo/ Josh Williams)

By Josh Williams

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

LOWER MANHATTAN — A downtown exhibit of artifacts from the World Trade Center site — some of which have  buried for over 400 years — opened on Tuesday at the India House in Lower Manhattan.

The “Ships, Explorers and the World Trade Center" exhibit includes items like a ship's keel discovered in 1918 by workers using donkeys and shovels to dig out an early subway tunnel, and an anchor that sat in the basement of the Twin Towers for years until its rediscovery following the 1993 trade center terrorist attacks.

Visitors to the the exhibit will learn a great deal about the history of the World Trade Center, but there is some debate surrounding the age and pedigree of several of the objects on display.

Robert Schwinger and Margaret Stocker inspecting the "Ornust" for the exhibit. (DNAinfo/ Josh Williams)

Exhibit curator and India House Trustee Margaret Stocker is trying to get the ship's keel scientifically tested so that she can determine its exact age.

“The only ship on record that sunk [in the New York harbor] was in 1613 was the 'Ornust,' but the jury is still out on the date,” Stocker said.  

In the 1600's the site where the World Trade Center is now was only navigable by vessel and was mostly swamp land which was likely inhabited by beavers, Stocker said.

The “Ornust”— a Dutch word which means “restless” — was the first decked ship in Manhattan, according to Stocker.

Stocker said that this kind of knowledge of the early history of Manhattan is important, adding, “The Dutch brought the role of law and tolerance, people spoke over forty languages and came here to make a friends on a handshake and trade.”

A Dutch flag recovered from the 9/11 attacks that was discovered in the watery mess in the basement by rescue workers. (DNAinfo/ Josh Williams)

The anchor on display was discovered only feet from where the keel was found, but years later. It was first unearthed during the building of the World Trade Center in 1967, but it sat in the basement of the Twin Towers until its rediscovery decades later.

Electricians making repairs in the darkened hallways of the World Trade Center after the 1993 attacks stumbled across the anchor tied to a wall.

The exhibit also includes modern day artifacts including scaled models of the USS New York made from recovered World Trade Center iron.

India House is donating the space for the exhibit and a $10 donation is suggested.