The privately owned Oak Island, off the southern end of Nova Scotia, has been the site of treasure hunting for more than two centuries. It began in 1795 when 18-year-old Daniel McGinnis noticed a circular depression in the ground, with a tackle block (rope and pulley system) attached to a nearby tree. McGinnis and his friends started excavating the hole, unearthing seemingly manmade layers of stone and ancient logs between every ten feet of dirt.They gave up their project at 30 feet, but that was only the beginning of the mystery that became known as the Money Pit.
A key reason the pit is thought to hold treasure is a story from early on in which a stone was uncovered that was inscribed with symbols translating to "forty feet below, two million pounds lie buried." Numerous other excavations followed (even a young Franklin Delano Roosevelt joined one search) and over the decades six people died searching for the treasure, but no one could reach the bottom without the shaft flooding with ocean water. What possible treasure would call for building this elaborate, flood-prone hiding spot? Speculation on whose treasure could be hidden at Oak Island ranges from pirates including Captain Kidd to Freemasons to the Knights Templar to Marie Antoinette.