Report #6
Dyottville Glass Work
The Dyottville Glass Works site was located at the intersection of Dyott Street and Richmond Street, with Dyott Street to the south, Richmond Street to the west, and the Delaware River to the east, situated along the northeast shoulder of the Dyott-Richmond Street intersection.
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Phase IB/II archaeological investigations within a portion of the Dyottville/Cramp Site (36PH037) have yielded significant information about a location that has played a vital role in the early history of the Kensington and Port Richmond neighborhoods, and that for more than 100 years was associated with Philadelphia’s important glass industry. Excavation within the Dyottville factory footprint exposed architectural elements of the late nineteenth-century glass furnace, brick floor, and possible tempering oven or foundation wall. A probable nineteenth-century ground surface relating to the glassworks was identified, along with stone foundations of ancillary buildings along the northern boundary of the glass factory complex. Excavations also exposed building foundations beneath the late-nineteenth-century glass furnace that could relate to earlier occupants of the site. More deeply buried archaeological deposits within the site could be associated with the late-eighteenth-century Hewson Calico Print Works, the home of John Hewson, the Hewson, Connell & Company Glass Works (founded 1816), and/or the early-nineteenth-century glassworks complex of Dr. Thomas W. Dyott.
Despite the long industrial history associated with the present study area, substantial gaps exist in terms of what is known about the general development of industry in this location and regarding the organization and operation of individual business ventures. Data-recovery investigations have the potential to produce significant data relating to a number of research issues, including the manner in which the study area landscape was progressively altered over time to accommodate successive historic industrial operations, the specific spatial and physical makeup of the various enterprises that occupied this location, and the technological organization of these industries. In addition, artifact deposits and features preserved with the study area might generate previously unknown information regarding the products manufactured here over time and, in some cases, about the lives of individuals that lived and worked within these grounds.
Phase IB/II excavation also revealed the only known stratified prehistoric site thus far identified in Philadelphia. Preserved intact beneath the historic levels, the prehistoric component provided compelling evidence of an expansive, generally high-density prehistoric occupation along the north bank of Gunner’s Run, and has been provisionally dated to the Early through Late Woodland periods. Native American occupation horizons within these tested portions of the site have already yielded significant information regarding the pre-Contact occupation of Philadelphia, and therefore are considered eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. More intensive data-recovery investigations of this component have the potential to reveal preserved intrasite artifact patterning, additional intact features and related artifact deposits, and both floral and faunal cultural materials not normally recovered from prehistoric sites in this vicinity.
Based on prior discussions with archaeologists from PennDOT and PHMC, this portion of the Dyottville/Cramp Site (36PH037) is considered eligible for the listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Disturbances associated with GR-1 construction activities—including the replacement of existing road surfaces, the construction of a rain garden feature, and the installation of multiple new public utility lines and access points—are expected to impact the study area to depths ranging from approximately 3 to 14 feet below present road grade. Given these impacts, URS recommends that Phase III data-recovery investigations be required within accessible portions of the site. A detailed data-recovery plan specifying the proposed study area for Phase III investigations, the methodologies to be employed in those excavations, and the research issues to be addressed will be presented in a companion document to this management summary.
Interpretations and recommendations contained in this document pertain only to those portions of the site that fall within the specified Phase IB/II study area (Figure 39). Portions of the construction project that are potentially archaeologically significant outside these limits will need to be separately tested and evaluated if they are to be impacted during the course of the I-95 GIR Improvement Project.
Report #6
Dyottville Glass Work
The Dyottville Glass Works site was located at the intersection of Dyott Street and Richmond Street, with Dyott Street to the south, Richmond Street to the west, and the Delaware River to the east, situated along the northeast shoulder of the Dyott-Richmond Street intersection.
Phase IB/II archaeological investigations within a portion of the Dyottville/Cramp Site (36PH037) have yielded significant information about a location that has played a vital role in the early history of the Kensington and Port Richmond neighborhoods, and that for more than 100 years was associated with Philadelphia’s important glass industry. Excavation within the Dyottville factory footprint exposed architectural elements of the late nineteenth-century glass furnace, brick floor, and possible tempering oven or foundation wall. A probable nineteenth-century ground surface relating to the glassworks was identified, along with stone foundations of ancillary buildings along the northern boundary of the glass factory complex. Excavations also exposed building foundations beneath the late-nineteenth-century glass furnace that could relate to earlier occupants of the site. More deeply buried archaeological deposits within the site could be associated with the late-eighteenth-century Hewson Calico Print Works, the home of John Hewson, the Hewson, Connell & Company Glass Works (founded 1816), and/or the early-nineteenth-century glassworks complex of Dr. Thomas W. Dyott.
Despite the long industrial history associated with the present study area, substantial gaps exist in terms of what is known about the general development of industry in this location and regarding the organization and operation of individual business ventures. Data-recovery investigations have the potential to produce significant data relating to a number of research issues, including the manner in which the study area landscape was progressively altered over time to accommodate successive historic industrial operations, the specific spatial and physical makeup of the various enterprises that occupied this location, and the technological organization of these industries. In addition, artifact deposits and features preserved with the study area might generate previously unknown information regarding the products manufactured here over time and, in some cases, about the lives of individuals that lived and worked within these grounds.
Phase IB/II excavation also revealed the only known stratified prehistoric site thus far identified in Philadelphia. Preserved intact beneath the historic levels, the prehistoric component provided compelling evidence of an expansive, generally high-density prehistoric occupation along the north bank of Gunner’s Run, and has been provisionally dated to the Early through Late Woodland periods. Native American occupation horizons within these tested portions of the site have already yielded significant information regarding the pre-Contact occupation of Philadelphia, and therefore are considered eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. More intensive data-recovery investigations of this component have the potential to reveal preserved intrasite artifact patterning, additional intact features and related artifact deposits, and both floral and faunal cultural materials not normally recovered from prehistoric sites in this vicinity.
Based on prior discussions with archaeologists from PennDOT and PHMC, this portion of the Dyottville/Cramp Site (36PH037) is considered eligible for the listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Disturbances associated with GR-1 construction activities—including the replacement of existing road surfaces, the construction of a rain garden feature, and the installation of multiple new public utility lines and access points—are expected to impact the study area to depths ranging from approximately 3 to 14 feet below present road grade. Given these impacts, URS recommends that Phase III data-recovery investigations be required within accessible portions of the site. A detailed data-recovery plan specifying the proposed study area for Phase III investigations, the methodologies to be employed in those excavations, and the research issues to be addressed will be presented in a companion document to this management summary.
Interpretations and recommendations contained in this document pertain only to those portions of the site that fall within the specified Phase IB/II study area (Figure 39). Portions of the construction project that are potentially archaeologically significant outside these limits will need to be separately tested and evaluated if they are to be impacted during the course of the I-95 GIR Improvement Project.