mission

Tales From a Privy Shaft part 1

Passing through downtown neighborhoods, many of us will notice the historic houses. Some are still as beautiful as the day they were completed and some are diamonds in the rough. Even driving through the dilapidated areas, I’m sure many of us wonder what the neighborhoods looked like in their prime. While the buildings are beautiful, I have always been attracted to the story behind the building. The story of who lived there, what the children played with, the health concerns of the former tenants, consumerism patterns and the story of the built past can be told through archaeology. Archaeology also can present new, untold stories, as we will see play out in the excavation of one of the privy shafts in the Queensgate II excavation. Since this project has so much detail and so many stories, it was necessary to split it into 3 blog posts.

Queensgate-Cincinnati-map

Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensgate,_Cincinnati


How the Project Began
The Queensgate II neighborhood of the 19th century was substantially different than the Queensgate II of the late 20th century. The once thriving, diverse, highly populated area, had become a memory. With urban housing projects to the north, a booming business district to the east, and a freeway to the south and west, it is no surprise that by 1968, the population of this area was a mere 1280. The Queensgate II archaeology project was born from Ted Sunderhaus’ observation that despite excessive amounts of “excavations” by looters, and the vast amount of vacant buildings, there were still several areas which could provide the archaeological features necessary for the study of this diverse 19th century neighborhood. The Miami Purchase Association (now known as the Cincinnati Preservation Association) approached the City of Cincinnati with a plan to incorporate the results from an urban archaeological study into the mitigating factors of nearby redevelopment plans. The project was restricted to properties owned by the City of Cincinnati, within a five block area. The year prior, a detailed lot-by-lot history, which shed light on the class diversity, was conducted by Stephen Gordon and Elisabeth Tuttle. The archaeological research would provide additional insight on this topic.
Neighborhood Beginnings
The area known as Queensgate II (now known as the Betts Longworth District) is a 7-block, 117 acre area of Cincinnati bounded by Ezzard Charles Dr., Race Street, 6th Street, and I-75. Streets began being laid out as early as 1815 and a building boom followed the next decade. The city’s population tripled during the 1840s, and a change from frame construction to brick construction followed. Most people in the Queensgate II neighborhood were from New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and were generally prosperous merchants. By 1870, however, a large German influx moved in and the original inhabitants moved away. Tensions between the Jewish population and non-Jewish population were common. In 1918, 55% of Cincinnati’s Jewish population lived in the West End (an area which includes Queensgate II). By 1930, however, only 5% remained. Also noteworthy was the increase in the black population. The 1860 census only listed 80 black people in the Seventh Ward, but by the 1920s, as much as 80% of Cincinnati’s black population lived in the West End. Demolition of Lincoln Park for Union Terminal in the 1930s, construction of the Interstate, and government housing drastically altered the streetscape.
Lot Selection
Since Queensgate II provided such a heterogeneous population, it was an ideal setting for the study. Preliminary surveys included looking through the back dirt left behind by looters, which were found to have a representative cross section of the past inhabitants with a wide array of artifacts recovered. Between the data provided from the Gordon and Tuttle report and a reconnaissance survey to identify potential features, along with factoring in economic diversity, potential for an intact feature, and the completeness of the historical record, selections for sites to be excavated was made.

A brick-lined privy shaft being sampled in Manhattan. Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bricklined_privy.jpg


Two lots were chosen, based on the selection criteria. The first held an 1840s frame structure and held an intact privy and cistern. Thorough documented history, including city directories which listed occupation for each resident, for this lot and the neighboring were found. The second location selected was the William Betts house. Similarly, a thorough history, intact privy and cistern were found on the lot. Additionally, it was decided that at least one builder’s trench be excavated to provide additional information.

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