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In December 2002 The Louis Berger Group, Inc. (Berger), completed data recovery excavations at Site 20WN1055 in downtown Detroit. The project was sponsored by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and was designed to mitigate the adverse effects of highway construction on a mid-nineteenth-century urban housing area determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The site was located within MDOT's proposed I-375 Improvement Project along downtown Detroit's east riverfront on Franklin and Atwater streets and encompassed seven city lots.
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| Excavating Detroit |
Excavation of the site was viewed as an opportunity to learn more about early residential neighborhoods in the city. Berger’s excavations uncovered a complex series of historic architectural features and refuse deposits associated with the area’s past as a residential and industrial area. A number of early nineteenth-century (ca. 1835-1855) building foundations and other residential features, including an ice house and privy, were discovered and excavated. A large quantity of domestic artifacts and food remains was collected to study aspects of diet and economic behavior. The excavations also encountered the remains of a window sash factory. This type of industry is poorly documented in Detroit, and discovery of its remains, including a number of hand-hewn structural elements, presented an opportunity to collect new information about early nineteenth-century industrial construction techniques.
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| Clay Pipes from 20WN1055 |
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