Northern Liberties 1

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Northern Liberties 1

The Northern Liberties 1 Site is located on the southeast corner of the Callowhill Street and Second Street intersection, opposite the Northern Liberties 2 Site. The site’s boundaries were defined by Callowhill Street to the north, Second Street to the west, the embankment for I-95 located south of Callowhill Street to the east, and the embankment for an exit ramp from I-95 to the south.

An analysis of historic mapping indicated that a proposed stormwater management basin location contained several open backyard areas associated with nineteenth-century residences in the Northern Liberties neighborhood. Machine excavation of the modern overburden revealed multiple historic privies that once served the residents of this busy street corner. Intact backyard deposits containing eighteenth-century domestic and pre-contact artifacts were also encountered—an unexpected discovery in this heavily disturbed area. The privies and backyard deposits have yielded thousands of artifacts from the mid-eighteenth through the late nineteenth century, offering valuable insights into the lives of the residents of historic Northern Liberties. Analyses of these investigations are ongoing.