Archaeological

Investigations of the

Vine Street Lot /

West Shipyard Site

Penny Pot Tavern & Landing and Griscom’s Academy

William L. Breton 1830

Vine and Water Streets

LATE-17TH CENTURY BEGINNINGSPenny Pot House and Landing / West Shipyard

SHIPBUILDING PERIOD ca. 1690 - 1760

○ 1690’s – James West established a Shipyard on a 100’ wide water lot north of Vine Street

○ 1720’s - Other shipwrights and related crafts people had taken up occupation of the project area

• Notable shipwrights included: Michael Hulings, James Porteus, Joseph Lynn, Charles West, William Taylor, Christopher Smith, and Jacob Casdorf.

1762

1750

MERCANTILE PERIOD ca. 1760 - 1850

○ Mid 18th century -Merchants began moving into the area as the city expanded north.

• Lumber merchants north of Wood Street steps, salt, flour, ship provisions, and commission merchants to the south.

• Landscape dotted by small alleys, stores and warehouse

○ By 1800 the wharves had largely been built out as far as modern Columbus Blvd.

1794 1800

GREAT CONFLAGRATION / RECONSTRUCTION

o July 9, 1850, a warehouse at 139 Water St., between Vine and Race Streets, caught fire igniting stores of saltpeter on the first floor

o Explosion spread the fire throughout the surrounding area; 367 houses and businesses destroyed; properties as far west as 4th Street, as far south as Race Street, and north beyond Callowhill were damaged.

o Damage from this fire totaled over $1.5 million in 1850

o Insurance records show that the entire Vine Street lot was destroyed.

o Site reconstructed over the next 2 years with new building configurations; Delaware Ave. extended north along the east side of the site.

1859

LATE 19TH CENTURY TO PRESENT

o By the 1870’s area between the rebuilt merchant houses infilled with a large market in the south.

o Fruit warehouse and domestic / commercial buildings replaced the lumber yard north of Wood Street

o By the early 20th century the whole block had been razed to establish a railyard for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

o By 1969 the property was acquired by the Hertz Rent-a-Car company; late 1980s all buildings removed and property converted to a municipal parking lot.

1895 1916

PRIOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS

CITY OF PHILADELPHIA - 1987

CITY OF PHILADELPHIA - 1987

DRWC / JOHN MILNER ASSOCIATES - 2012

Logs forming part of a grillage wharf.

Layer of woodworking waste and hardware.

DUE DILIGENCE WORK TO DATE

• Public Meeting 1 (Due Diligence Plan): May 23, 2019

• Due Diligence Trench Work: July- August 2019

• 2 Open Houses: July 26th and August 26th

• More than 170 attendees

• Public Meeting 2 (Report of Due Diligence Findings):

December 2nd, 2019

DUE DILIGENCE ARCHAEOLOGICAL TESTING PLAN

• Plan reviewed and approved by PHC and PA SHPO / PHMC;

• Intended to provide additional and more detailed information

about the types and distribution of archaeological resources

within the site;

• Data generated will be used to better inform construction plans

for the property and guide future data recovery investigations

and historic interpretation efforts

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STANDARDS TO BE APPLIED

• Adhere to established professional standards and practices, and

comply with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commissions

Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations in Pennsylvania (2016)

• Assigned senior staff will meet the Secretary of the Interior’s

Standards for Archaeological Professionals

• Oversight performed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum

Commission (PHMC) and the Philadelphia Historical Commission

(PHC)

DUE DILIGENCE TESTING 2019

TESTING RESULTS

○ Due diligence testing results:

• 45 historical features documented

• 1556 artifacts collected

• More than 170 public visitors

TRENCH 1 FINDINGS

○ Trench 1

• Identified likely early 19th century wharf timbers (Context 17) in line with those identified by Weber in 1987.

• Feature 1/2 foundation complex at end of wharf timbers

• Woodworking debris from hewing timber at interface with former river bank

• Context 88 – Another hewn timber, perpendicular to the others and deeper

• Possible pilings from a pier

A view of the Feature 5 timber in profile showing its thickness and position

relative to the Feature 1/2 foundation.

Test Unit 1 Closing Plan View. Feature 1 /2

TRENCH 2 FINDINGS

○ Trench 2

• Foundation wall aligned with the western edge of Wood Street steps

South side of wall had associated pine floor with joist beneath

• Well feature capped by floor

• Large hewn beam with mortises and bevel cuts

TRENCH 3 FINDINGS

○ Encountered Stone Wall and Wood floor. Wall cut into fill.

• Additional stone walls beneath wood floor

• Wall supported by large stone flag spread footers

○ Southwest of wall was a well capped by mid 19th century fill

○ Several piles from a likely pier

○ Western end of the trench encountered disturbance from Hertz period tank, confirming accuracy of tank disturbance mapping

TRENCH 3 FINDINGS

TRENCH 4 FINDINGS

• Additional portion of Wall in alignment with that seen in Trench 3 but no floor

• Area built on a thick deposit of dredge spoil with coral

• Late 18th early 19th century foundation and brick porch

substantial quantity of largely intact late 18th and early 19th century ceramics

Southern end of Trench 4 Planview showing stone wall (Feature 42) and brick porch

( Feature 44)

TRENCH 4 FINDINGS

TRENCH 5 FINDINGS

OPEN HOUSE SITE VISITS

• July 26th and August 26th

• More than 170 attendees

INTERPRETATIONS

○ Throughout all three excavations virtually all artifacts found in all contexts pre-date 1850, the period of the Great Conflagration

• Subsequent Grading for Railroad and Parking Lot eliminated much of the evidence of the Late 19th century

○ Some foundations correspond with the post fire period like those in Trench 3 and possibly Trench 2

○ Earlier foundations related to the mercantile landscape of the late 18th and early 19th century survive

○ Additional grillage wharf related deposits survive south of Wood St.

○ Shipbuilding / waterfront woodworking evidence throughout entire site

○ Hertz lot building did not destroy early deposits.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STANDARDS TO BE APPLIED

Preserve In Place

• Wherever possible significant archaeological resources will be preserved in place

and not impacted by proposed construction

Mitigation

• Where impacts cannot be avoided, disturbance to significant resources will be

mitigated by means of thorough archaeological documentation using state of the

art technologies and data gathering techniques

Report of Findings

• Information about the archaeological resources contained within the site will be

documented in a detailed professional report, which will be shared with the

public

NEXT STEPS

1. Due Diligence

a. Data Recovery Plan

2. Full Archaeological Investigation

a. Public Comment during PHC Review

b. Site Archaeological Investigation

1. Additional Public Engagement

Opportunities

3. Construction Monitoring

a. AECOM Archaeology Team On-Site

Monitoring throughout Excavation

4. Final Report

a. Publicly Available Document which will

Catalogue FindingsPhotos of President’s House Site Excavations, Independence Mall, 2007