Phase 1A Archaeological Sensitivity Assessment
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Phase 1A Archaeological Sensitivity Assessment I-81 Viaduct Project City of Syracuse and Towns of Salina, Cicero, and Dewitt, Onondaga County, New York NYSDOT PIN 3501.60 Prepared for: Prepared by: Environmental Design & Research, Landscape Architecture, Engineering & Environmental Services, D.P.C. 217 Montgomery Street, Suite 1000 Syracuse, New York 13202 P: 315.471.0688 F: 315.471.1061 www.edrdpc.com Redacted Version - November 2016 Phase 1A Archaeological Sensitivity Assessment (redacted version) I-81 Viaduct Project City of Syracuse and Towns of Salina, Cicero, and Dewitt, Onondaga County, New York NYSDOT PIN 3501.60 Prepared for: And Prepared by: Environmental Design & Research, Landscape Architecture, Engineering, & Environmental Services, D.P.C. 217 Montgomery Street, Suite 1000 Syracuse, New York 13202 P: 315.471.0688 F: 315.471.1061 www.edrdpc.com November 2016 MANAGEMENT SUMMARY PIN: 3501.60 NYSORHP Project Review: 16PR06314 DOT Project Type: Highway demolition, reconstruction, and/or replacement Cultural Resources Survey Type: Phase 1A Archaeological Sensitivity Assessment Location Information: City of Syracuse and Towns of Salina, Cicero, and Dewitt Onondaga County Survey Area: Project Description: Reconstruction of I-81 and adjacent roadways in Syracuse, N. The Project is considering 2 alternatives – a Viaduct Alternative and Community Grid Alternative, described herein. Project Area: Area of Potential Effect (APE) for Direct Effects totals 458.9 acres USGS 7.5-Minute Quadrangle Map: Syracuse East, Syracuse West, Jamesville, Cicero and South Onondaga Results of Archaeological Survey: Native American Archaeological Sensitivity: 19.1 acres of APE for Direct Effects is undisturbed (or disturbance cannot be determined) and therefore potentially sensitive for Native American archaeological resources Historic Period Archaeological Sensitivity: Potential for historic-period archaeological resources to be located throughout portions of the APE for Direct Effects; however, the APE for Direct Effects is for the most part within a heavily disturbed highway corridor Authors/Institution: Patrick J. Heaton, RPA; Grant Johnson; Nicholas Freeland, RPA; Susan Lawson; Daniel Barbato; Lisa Young; Sarah Bock, RPA; Kyle Somerville, Ph.D.; Jordon Loucks, RPA; Andrew Roblee Environmental Design & Research, Landscape Architecture, Engineering, & Environmental Services, D.P.C. (EDR), Syracuse, New York Date: November 2016 Sponsor: New York State Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Phase 1A Archaeological Sensitivity Assessment (redacted) I-81 Viaduct Project (NYSDOT PIN 3501.60) ii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Purpose of the Investigation ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Project Description ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2.1 Purpose of the Proposed Action ............................................................................................................... 3 1.2.2 Need for the Proposed Action .................................................................................................................. 3 1.2.3 Description of Alternatives ........................................................................................................................ 5 1.3 Project’s Area of Potential Effect ................................................................................................................ 11 2.0 BACKGROUND RESEARCH ......................................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Environmental Setting, Geology, and Soils ................................................................................................ 13 2.1.1 Geographic Setting ................................................................................................................................ 13 2.1.2 Glacial Geology and Paleo-Environmental Setting................................................................................. 15 2.1.3 Soils within APE for Direct Effects .......................................................................................................... 18 2.2 Previously Identified Archaeological Sites .................................................................................................. 26 2.3 Previous Archaeological Investigations ...................................................................................................... 31 2.4 Historic Context for the APE and Vicinity .................................................................................................... 56 2.4.1 Pre-Contact Native American Period (ca. 14,000 BP to 1654 AD) ......................................................... 56 2.4.2 Euro-American and Native American Contact during the Colonial Era (ca. A.D. 1534 to 1786) ............ 66 2.4.3 Salt and the Early Settlement of Onondaga County (ca. 1750 to 1825) ................................................. 71 2.4.4 The Erie Canal and the Birth of the City of Syracuse (ca.1825-1918) .................................................... 80 2.4.5 Growth in the Post-Canal Era (ca. 1918-1938) ...................................................................................... 91 2.4.6 Slum Clearance, Post-War Planning and Urban Renewal (ca. 1938-1974) ......................................... 102 2.4.7 Suburban Expansion in Onondaga County (ca. 1965-2016) ................................................................ 124 2.5 Existing Conditions ................................................................................................................................... 135 2.6 Previous Ground Disturbance within the APE for Direct Effects ............................................................... 138 2.6.1 Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Landfilling and Urban Development .............................................. 139 2.6.2 Mid-Twentieth-Century Highway Construction ..................................................................................... 143 2.6.3 Prior Ground Disturbance Analysis ...................................................................................................... 146 3.0 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SENSITIVITY ASSESSMENT .................................................................................... 151 3.1 Pre-Contact Native-American Archaeological Sensitivity Assessment ..................................................... 152 3.2 Historic Period Archaeological Sensitivity Assessment ............................................................................ 156 3.2.1 Contact and Colonial Period Native American Archaeological Sensitivity ............................................ 157 Phase 1A Archaeological Sensitivity Assessment (redacted) I-81 Viaduct Project (NYSDOT PIN 3501.60) iii 3.2.2 Erie and Oswego Canal-Related Archaeological Sensitivity ................................................................ 162 3.2.3 Potential for Large-Scale Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Archaeological Sites ..................... 179 3.2.4 Potential for Residential and Small-Scale Commercial Archaeological Sites ....................................... 194 3.2.5 Military Sites Archaeological Sensitivity ............................................................................................... 206 3.3 Potential for Human Remains and Cemeteries ........................................................................................ 211 3.3.1 Potential for Native American Human Remains within the APE for Direct Effects ............................... 213 3.3.2 Cemeteries ........................................................................................................................................... 214 4.0 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................ 222 4.1 Summary Results of the Phase 1A Archaeological Assessment .............................................................. 222 4.2 Conclusions and Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 225 5.0 REFERENCES CITED .................................................................................................................................. 235 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.2-1. Regional Project Location. ........................................................................................................................ 2 Figure 2.1.1-1. Oblique View of the Land Surface in and around the Onondaga Trough ............................................ 13 Figure 2.2-1. Archaeological Sites in the Vicinity of Syracuse and Onondaga Lake (from Parker, 1922). ................... 27 Figure 2.4.3-1. 1779 Sauthier Chorographical Map of the Province of New York (left). ............................................... 74 Figure 2.4.3-2. 1793 1st Sheet of Dewitt’s State Map of New York (right). ................................................................... 74 Figure 2.4.3-3. 1797 Map of Onondaga Salt Lake. ...................................................................................................... 76 Figure 2.4.3-4. 1827 Map of Part of the Onondaga