VOLUME 1 of 2 nce Upon a Time in New Brunswick OPHASE II/III TESTING AND DATA RECOVERY, ROUTE 18/27 ALBANY STREET INTERCHANGE SITE NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY d Prepared for GANNETT FLEMING, INC. and NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION by JOHN MILNER ASSOCIATES, INC. MAY 2007 ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW BRUNSWICK PHASE II/III ARCHEOLOGICAL TESTING AND DATA RECOVERY ROUTE 18/27 (ALBANY STREET) INTERCHANGE NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY Volume 1 of 2 submitted to Gannett Fleming, Inc. 1 Craigwood Road, Suite 205 South Plainfield, NJ 07080-2305 and New Jersey Department of Transportation P.O. Box 600 Trenton, NJ 08625-0600 by Rebecca Yamin, Ph.D. Alexander B. Bartlett Tod L. Benedict Juliette Gerhardt Catherine Masse Claudia L. Milne Leslie E. Raymer Karl J. Reinhard, Ph.D. John Milner Associates, Inc. 1216 Arch Street, 5th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 May 2007 ABSTRACT ABSTRACT John Milner Associates, Inc. conducted Phase II/III archeological investigations on the Route 18/27 (Albany Street) site between July 31 and October 23, 2003. The site included eight historic lots, four facing Albany Street, and four facing Water Street. The southern half of the site was previously tested by Dan Crozier and a team from Temple University in the 1970s. The features they found, some of them only partially excavated and several looted, were left in place and covered with tarps and a blanket of soil since construction at that time was not slated to disturb them. JMA re-located six of the previously identified features and found 31 more, 19 on the southern half of the site and 12 on the northern half that Crozier had not examined. Three of the features were foundations belonging to structures that stood along Water Street and one was the trace of an outbuilding at the back of a lot facing Albany Street. The other features were stone and wood-lined privies, a possible buttery later used as a privy, two cisterns, a possible ice storage pit, and a variety of trash pits. Ceramic and glass artifacts from primary deposits were vesselized and every effort was made to connect the artifacts to the households that discarded them. Extensive documentary research was conducted to both identify the people who lived on the block over time and understand the physical evolution of the space. The Route 18/27 Interchange site is located at the base of Albany Street where the city of New Brunswick began and one of the major themes of the report is the transformation of the block over time. The published diary of Rachel Van Dyke, a young resident of the block in the early nineteenth century, and the record of her older brother’s business activities at mid-century, provide the narrative background for understanding life on the block. We have added to the narrative by weaving the results of the primary research and artifact analysis into narrative vignettes. The vignettes cover the entire period for which there were features and artifacts, that is from the late eighteenth century to the early decades of the twentieth century. Research issues including the difference between public and private assemblages, the expression of Dutch identity, and the relationship between Raritan Landing and New Brunswick are also addressed. ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW BRUNSWICK NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract List of Tables List of Figures List of Plates Acknowledgements 1.0 A UNIQUE PROJECT........................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction—New Brunswick..............................................................................1 1.2 The Route 18/27 Interchange Project.....................................................................1 1.3 Thirty-one New Features........................................................................................2 1.4 Rachel Van Dyke’s Journal....................................................................................3 1.5 James Van Dyke’s Era ...........................................................................................6 1.6 The Report..............................................................................................................9 1.7 Laboratory Methods ...............................................................................................9 2.0 THE INDIAN QUEEN/BELL TAVERN, 1 (LATER 7) ALBANY STREET.................11 2.1 Lot History ...........................................................................................................11 2.2 Archeological Features.........................................................................................17 2.2.1 Feature A.................................................................................................17 2.3 Summary and Conclusions...................................................................................32 3.0 THE VAN DYKE PROPERTY, 3-5 (LATER 9-11-11½) ALBANY STREET ..............35 3.1 Lot History ..........................................................................................................35 3.2 Archeological Features.........................................................................................46 3.2.1 Feature C.................................................................................................46 3.2.2 Feature C1...............................................................................................48 3.2.3 Feature C2...............................................................................................51 3.2.4 Feature C3...............................................................................................52 3.2.5 Interpretation of Features C, C1, C2, and C3..........................................53 3.2.6 Feature F..................................................................................................54 3.3 Summary and Conclusions...................................................................................65 4.0 THE “DUTCH” HOUSE, 7 (LATER 13-15) ALBANY STREET...................................67 4.1 Lot History ...........................................................................................................67 4.2 Archeological Features.........................................................................................71 4.2.1 Features I.................................................................................................71 4.2.2 Feature I-1...............................................................................................80 4.2.3 Feature H.................................................................................................83 4.2.4 Feature J..................................................................................................83 4.3 Summary and Conclusions...................................................................................84 5.0 THE PARKER HOUSE, 9 (LATER 17) ALBANY STREET .........................................86 5.1 Lot History ...........................................................................................................86 5.2 Archeological Features.........................................................................................90 5.2.1 Feature K.................................................................................................90 5.2.2 Feature L/L1............................................................................................91 5.2.3 Feature S..................................................................................................93 ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW BRUNSWICK NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY TABLE OF CONTENTS 5.3 Summary and Conclusions ..................................................................................93 6.0 8-10 (LATER 12-14) WATER STREET..........................................................................95 6.1 Lot history ............................................................................................................95 6.2 Archeological Features, 8 Water Street..............................................................101 6.2.1 Feature B...............................................................................................101 6.2.2 Feature D...............................................................................................102 6.2.3 Feature E...............................................................................................106 6.2.4 Feature N...............................................................................................110 6.2.5 Feature O...............................................................................................111 6.2.6 Feature P................................................................................................111 6.3 Archeological Features, 10 Water Street............................................................112 6.3.1 Features G1-G7.....................................................................................112 6.3.2 Feature M..............................................................................................112 6.3.3 Feature Q...............................................................................................115 6.3.4 Feature R...............................................................................................127 6.4 Summary and Conclusions.................................................................................129 7.0 12 (16) WATER Street....................................................................................................131