Gunner’s Run South

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Gunner’s Run South

The Gunner’s Run South Site was located in the Kensington-Fishtown neighborhood, approximately 1.5 miles northeast of Center City Philadelphia. It was bounded by Berks Street to the south and Wildey Street to the west. The northern and eastern boundaries are formed by Delaware Avenue and a ramp that curves northwest to join Aramingo Avenue and I-95.

At the start of the excavation, the site appeared as a combination of bare ground beneath the I-95 viaduct and grass-covered land to the south of the highway. The entire site area was open and featureless, with the exception of a line of small trees along the northern margins of Delaware Avenue. Prior to the construction of I-95, much of the site area consisted of undeveloped backyard and interior block space, with a segment of Susquehanna (formerly Wood) Street dividing the eastern half of the site from northwest to southeast (this section of the street was vacated and demolished prior to the construction of the highway in the early 1970s). A small segment of Hewson Street (now demolished) also extended a short distance into the site from the north, but never extended all the way to Delaware Avenue. The topography within the site was somewhat altered during landscaping related to I-95 and is now relatively flat, although ground surfaces do slope down slightly to the south and southeast in the direction of Delaware Avenue.

Site History Summary

Like much of northeastern Kensington, urban development on the Gunner’s Run South Site did not really begin until the late colonial era, and even then, the area remained fairly rural. At the time, a majority of the site formed the southeast corner of a large block bounded by the streets now known as Girard Avenue, Montgomery Avenue, Susquehanna Avenue, and Richmond Street. Fishermen and shipwrights occupied houses scattered along Richmond and Susquehanna, while much of what became the Berks, Wildey, and Hewson Street properties was part of a nearly 2-acre plot of land owned by Philadelphia tailor Jacob Maag.

From the 1820s through the 1840s, the block saw a period of greater development, with many of the remaining large tracts of land being subdivided and Berks Street being opened between Richmond and Wildey Streets. On the northwest side of the block, Philadelphia merchant Manuel Eyre sold off the land that Jacob Maag (and later, his daughter) had owned: some to smaller property owners like fisherman Jacob H. Faunce, and some to glass manufacturer William Bennett, who also bought up parcels of land at the corner of Richmond and Berks that had once belonged to the Baker family. Along Richmond Street and Susquehanna Avenue, more homes occupied by fishing and shipbuilding families—such as the Bakers, Hills, Broadwaters, Rices, and Bakeovens—sprang up and were interspersed with the homes of glass blowers working at the nearby Union Glass and Dyottville glasshouses. In addition to houses, the block also had taverns, shoe stores, and a bakery. In the early 1850s, the volunteer firemen of the Kensington Hose Company, several of whom lived on the block, moved their firehouse to a location on Richmond Street near Susquehanna Avenue.

After the Civil War, the area became more industrialized and the demographics of the block changed. The Kensington Hose house was replaced by Sykes & Son Nut and Bolt Works, and what remained of the Bennett land was subdivided to build row homes for workers as more of the inhabitants were being employed in factories, iron foundries, shipyards, and mills. The houses and remaining buildings along Richmond Street were demolished around 1924, when Richmond Street was widened into Delaware Avenue. Over the next several decades, a majority of the homes on Hewson Street and Susquehanna Avenue were razed for the expansion of industry. The houses on the Berks Street side of the site were able to hold on into the 1960s, when they too were demolished to facilitate the construction of I-95.

What Did the Archaeological Excavation Reveal?

Phase I investigations began with a series of machine-excavated trenches in search of intact soil horizons and subsurface archaeological features. Wherever these trenches encountered intact surfaces or archaeological features, 5-foot-square excavation units were placed to investigate these areas. These units revealed pre-contact and historic archaeological features, while also allowing the identification of several high-potential areas that were subjected to further study during subsequent efforts. This further study consisted of both widening of the original trenches and the opening of additional trenches. More excavation units were emplaced and the interval was shortened to 25 feet.

Based on the results of the Phase I/II testing, it was determined that the construction of I-95 disturbed relatively little of the underlying soils and buried archaeological features. Modern disturbances were restricted to the areas nearest the highway’s support columns and along its centerline, where a storm sewer was located. Additionally, 1–2 feet of modern fill covered the Gunner’s Run South Site, which served to protect the overall area. Aside from the footprints of the historic houses themselves, large expanses of backyard spaces were left capped and untouched.

The Phase III efforts began with the machine removal of all overlying modern fill and the excavation of additional units. Beneath this fill, AECOM archaeologists encountered intact soils and the foundations to multiple historic residences, foundations to late historic industrial buildings, and hundreds of archaeological features. Three pre-contact hearth features were uncovered and supplied carbon-14 dates of 2200 B.C. and 2469 B.C. Excavation units yielded chronologically diagnostic artifacts, such as projectile points dating from the Late Archaic into the Woodland periods, as well as Woodland period ceramics. Thousands of specimens of lithic debris were also recovered. The extended date range and large amount of lithic debris indicate that Gunner’s Run South was occupied for centuries before the arrival of Europeans and was long utilized as an important area for resource gathering and tool production.

The historic artifacts were mostly recovered from privies; barrel, box, and brick specimens were fully excavated. The contents of these privies yielded a trove of information about the glassblowing, fishing, and shipbuilding families that dominated Kensington-Fishtown since the arrival of Europeans and the explosion of these industries.