Appendix G Phase 1 Archaeological Assessment
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G. Phase 1 Archaeological Assessment PHASE 1 ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT AND FIELD INVESTIGATION HIDDEN COVE DEVELOPMENT BRANDRETH PILL FACTORY VILLAGE OF OSSINING, WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK PHASE I ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT and HELD INVESTIGATION HIDDEN COVE DEVELOPMENT BRANDRETH PILL EACTOR Y Village of Ossining, Westchester County, Ne\\-' York Prepared For: Peler StoJali~ 427 Bedford Road Pleasantville. NY 10570 Prepared Uy lli~lorical PerspcLlive~. Inc. P.O. I3(lX 3037 \liestport, CT 06880 Primary Author: Sara Mascia. Ph.D. Field DireclOr: James Cox September 201)6 Managemen! Summary SHPO Project Review Number (if available)c' _ Involved State and Federal Agencie~ (DEC, CORPS,FHWA.elc.): Phase ofSuT\iey:cPCh"",'~'_,~ _ Location lnfonnation Location: Water Street Minor CC;yC,","DC;",C;;C;oCoC'"TCoC.CnCoc,c'OnC"CiOoOinCgc------------------- County Westchesta Survey Area ~Metric & English) Length: _ Width: Depth (when appropriate): Numher ofAcres Survt"ved: <I Number of Square Meters & Feet E"xC'O'Cva=tC,Od"(~P~hc"'C'CIOI-,~P~hc",C,:-;;"~1Co=o~'y=)C,-------- Percentage ofrhe Site Excavated (Phase II. Phase III only): U.5.G.S. 7.5 Minute Quadrangk Map: Ossining _ Archaeological Survey Oven'iew Number & Inter,a] of Shovel Tests: 15 at 15 meter interval or ~ma1Jer Number & Size ofunits,,'CC,,'o5_5cO""'"m'-'-v"S,OC'Cm"- _ Width of Plowed Strips: Surface Sur'iey of Transect rnterval: Results ofAn:haeological Survey Number & name of prehistoric sites identified: N:.0eo"''- _ Number & name of historic ~ites identitied: None Number & name of sites recommendcd for Phase "llc/AC--y-oC;dC,-,-,,----------- Results of Architectur<ll Survey Number ofbuildingsistructures/cemeteries within project area: I Number of buildings/structures/cemet~riesadjacent to project are",c.c3;--------- NillIlher ofprrviously delem1ined NR listed or eligible buildings/structur.:slcemetcries/districis Number of identified eligible bui\dings/stTucrures/ccmeteries/districts: 3 Report Author ($): Sara F. Mascia and James Cox Date of Report: Septc~,,~lb~,~'~2~O~(l6'- _ TABl.E OF CONTENTS Page I. INTRODUCTiON. .. __ " J II RESEARCH METHODS AND GOALS .. __ ... " I III CONTEXTUAL OVERVIEW.. 1 Environmental Review ....... 2. PrC(;untacl Ovcr\i~w .. ,.. ,2 Historical Devdopment ,_ ... 4 IV, CULTURAL RESOURCES POTENTIAL ... , , _10 v. FIELD METIiODOLOCiY . _ , , . ...... 11 Vl. RESULIS OF SlJI3SURFACE TESTING.. " . , , _12 VII. CONCLUSIONS AND RECO~1MENDATIONS.. _ .... 13 Villi. S1I3110GRAPHY ... 15 FIGURES PHOTOGRAPHS APPENDIX I: National Kegislcr of Historic Places Nomination Form, Brandreth Pill Factory. APPENDIX II: Record DfShnveJ TL'st Excavations APPENDIX If!: Catalog of Recovered ArtifacIs " FIGURES I. Sit.' Locur;un. USO. S. Ossining Quadrangle. 7.S MinUTe Serie:;" (j 979). 2. Proposed Site Pl<.lIl and Area of Polt'rJlial Effect 3. USDA Sl,il S\lrv~y (If Putnam :md V,'c<;tchestcr COllnti~s, 1994, ~. l1Iumatioll ofthe Oliver Cromwell field House. Collection ofthe Ossining Historical Society. 5 111ustratio:"l ofthc Brandreth Factory, 1848, Courtesy Norman T. MacDon<lld. 6, Att.1S (if1·... i!w York & Vicinity. Ossining, Si!W' York Beers, Ellis & Soule, New York, 1867. 7a. / Jlu~tration ofthc Arandrcth \\\)rk~. lion] The D<ll'ly Graphic, May 4, IX77. Courtesy Norman T MacDonald. 7b. lHustrat(ml ofBrandn:th's Pills and Allcock's Porous Plasters Factory, Courtesy Noman T. M<tl:Donald. 8. At/as of Westchester COUnt)' (hsilling, A'e',I' York G. W. Broml~y, New Yurk, 1881. 9. Photograph ofClift' Cunage, Courtesy Nomlan T. MacOonald. lOa. Photogr<lpb of C!iff Collagt', Courtesy Norman T MacDonald. lOb. Image (lf~1rs r. Brandreth's Garden. Courtesy Norman T. MacDonald. 11. At/,ll 0fWestchl.'ster Cuunty. Ossining. \ew York Bien, New York, 1893. 12. AlIas of Westchi'sler County OssininK, .,",,'<,w York G. W. Bromley, New York, /901. 13. Insurance Atlas. Ossining lV'fm,' York Sanborn, New York, ca. 1920. 14. Atlas oj' Westchester County Ossining, ;\ew York Vol. 4., O. Hupkins. New York, 1930. 15. Areas ofPolenliaI Archaeological Sensltil'i(v. 16. Location of Archaeological Shovel Tests. iii I. INTRODUCTION The proposed reside:ltial development Hidden Cove on the Hudson will be situated in the Village of Ossining,. Westchester County, New V'lrk. The project parcel. is j'lunded on the SQllth and west by t:'le Metw-Nurth railroad easement that pamllel~ the Hudson River and commercial property, to the north by commercial property and to the east by a steeD slope (Figure 1). A portion of t~e ~ite is situated adjacent to, and on lOp o( an elevated landform that overlooks the f ludson River. The proposed actiull wuulu entail 130 ne\\' dwelling units, 2~ of which would be in the renovated Brandreth Pill Factory and the remainder in new Slru<:tures idenritied as the Plateuu Building, and To\Hlhouses 101-113 ,1n the proposed project site plan fFigure 2). The proposed Townhouses would be constructed at tJ1C edge of the roadbed on the northwestern edge of the elevated landlornl, The 19t1l century Brandreth Pill Factory. located on Water Street, is I;sted ,1n the We~tcheSler County Hi<:toric Building lnvcntol) (1/5/88), the Sti1ll: Regbtcr of Historic Places l6f2Ji~UI. and the National Register ofl-1istoric Pl<lces (1/1 0/80) (~ce Appendix). The proposed development requires sill' plan approval. a conditional use permit, and architectural review. Hislorical Perspecti"es. Inc. (fIPI) ha~ conducted lhl' nec~ss;HY culnu-al resources evaluation to address local review n:quin::rllt:lJb, as well as the requirements of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The New York State Office of Parks. Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRIIPj will review the Hidden Cove on the Hudson proposal as a function (lfthe State Historic Preservation Act, Section 14,09. ne Area of Potential Effect (APE) for archaeological resources is considered the footprint of the direct subsurface impacts; the APE for hisloric resources is a larger study area, approximately are half mile. II. RESEARCH METHODS AND GOALS The research lor the cultural resources evaluation was designed to provide a framework for assessing the potential for cultural resources within the project site. In order to evaluate the potential of prccontact archaeological sensitivity, it is nece~:;ary to understand that there arc many variables that affect how the landscape was used over time. Among these variahles arc considerations of land 510pe, soil penneability, di~tance to water sources, and the prcscncc of natural n::;uurces. Research In New York has demonstrated that Native inhabitants selected sites for habitation with specitlc parameters in mind. In order to fully assess the potential for prccontact and historic sites within this project area, several lines of evidence were used.. Hi<.;10rical documcnts and resources were con3ulted at local libraries and bolh the Ossining Historical Society and 'the \Vestchester County Historical Sodety. Ihis hackground research was used ,0 address 1',1,'0 research questions; first what is the potential for the e;.,:i.~tence of significant precontact and historic sites, and second, what is the likelihood that any of these potential resources have survived hislOric and moderr. disturbances. In order to address 'th(' potential archaeological ~nsitivity of the rrope~'. several research methods were empluyed, incluJing reviewing primary and secondary historical documents. available cartographic resources, state site files, National Register data. and interviews with local informants. Of particular note was the assistance and information provided l by Norman T MacDunaLd . In addition, f(lr the Pha~ L'\ study, two field visits were condllcted 011 March J and Man:h 2L, ~006. During the second site visit the archaeologist conducted an extensive walkover of the property identifying historical structures and foundations, historical middens, evidence (1f land modification, evidence of disturbance, and areas of pott'ntial precontact archaeolog,ical deposit~ induding rock shelters, ridgc~ al1d terraces (see Photographs A-Tj. III. CONTEXTUALOVl:mVII~:W The following Contextual Overview IS broken down into three subsections: Environmental Setting, Precontact Overview. and Historical Developm~nl. I Norman 1, MacDonald is a local ~istorian and is married to a descendant of Henjamin Brandreth. Environmental Setting The project site is situated in the Hudson VaHey region. which is described in geological terms as part of the Ne~ England Upland Physiographic Province. a nonhcl11 extension of the Great Appalal:hian Valley \Schuberth IQti8:74). Bedrock beneath v..'estches!cr County is part of the Manhattan Formation. il rolling lowland area campmed of metamorphic rocks (l:-'dchsen et a1. lW!I :46). These rocks include the harder gneiss and schists, in contact with Inwood Marbk. which is easily eroded. Much of the bedrock is covered by Atlantic Coastal Plain deposits. Soils within the southern portion of the project site arc predominantly Hollis Rock outcrop complex, a shallow, well drained rocky soil in hilly areas along the tops and sides of hills (USDA \994; Figure 3). The slopes surrounding the hills usually rarlge from 35 to 60 percent. Soils of this c\)mplex arc typic:J\ly 60 percent Hollis soil, 20 percent Rock \lutCrop soil, and 20 percent other soils. The typical composition ofthe layers of Hollis soil are: surfa,,'c layer 0-1 inchc~ dark hrown fine ~andv loam subsurtace layer 1-16 inches - dark yellowish brown fine sand) loam bedrock 16 inches - fractured and folded granite Along the Hudson River. thae is also a significant amount ufsoils identified as Urban land (Uf). This s(1il type is typically ass0,iated with commercial or industrial structures along tmnsportation corridor~, in this case, the MetroNorth Railroad, ["his soil is pre~ent in the northem portion of the APE when: the Brandreth factory complex stands. At thc northem horder of the sile there is also a small amount of soils identified as Udorthents (Uc), wet substratum. rhis soil is associated 'Nith poorly drained locales that haw been altered by filling episodes in rectangular areas.