Cramp/Bumm Site

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Cramp-Bumm

The Cramp/Bumm Site was located at the former 1018 Palmer Street property, now part of the PennDOT right-of-way along the southbound side of the roadway. At the time of the initial excavation, the site was situated on a 10-foot-wide, flat, grassy tract of land that abruptly transitioned into a steeply sloped embankment to the east, adjacent to southbound I-95. The site was bounded by 1020 Palmer Street to the west, I-95 to the east, and Ross/Earl Street to the south. The roadway embankment limited the initial excavation to the area located along the west edge of the property. Later, during archaeological monitoring, the area expanded to the full backyard of 1018 Palmer Street.

SITE HISTORY SUMMARY

The three-story brick row house at 1018 Palmer Street was built in 1849–1850 for William G. Cramp and his wife Elizabeth. William, the son of a fisherman, and Elizabeth, the daughter of a ship caulker, both grew up in Fishtown. William was a ship carpenter—a man expert in all aspects of building, maintaining, and repairing ships. William G. and Elizabeth Cramp had only one child who survived into adulthood: Jacob, born in 1846. The two generations of the Cramp family remained at 1018 Palmer Street until 1889, when William purchased a house in North Philadelphia and put their house on Palmer Street up for rent.

Their first tenant was Jacob Bumm, a man who worked at the shipyard as a caulker and had been living on the next block. Jacob moved into the three-story row house with his wife Rhoda and their five children, remaining at 1018 Palmer Street until 1914. The next occupant of 1018 Palmer Street was Adam Nickel, who emigrated from Germany in 1882 when he was 15 years old. Nickel lived at 1018 Palmer with his wife and four children, a son-in-law, and a grandchild. The Nickel family rented the house until 1920, when Godfrey and Bertha Bowers bought the property. The Bowers family moved from Port Richmond into 1018 Palmer Street with their 13 children, aged 6–30. After Godfrey’s death in 1943, the house at 1018 Palmer Street was left to their unmarried daughter Edna. A few years later, Edna Bowers sold the house to Charles and Edith Hansen, who lived there until 1967, when the house was sold to make way for construction of I-95.

WHAT DID THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION REVEAL?

Archaeological excavation of the Cramp-Bumm Site (located at the former 1018 Palmer Street property in the Kensington-Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia) revealed several notable features, consisting of one brick-lined shaft, one domestic refuse pit, two post features, and one French drain–like feature—all identified along the western portion of the property adjacent to the 1020 Palmer Street lot. The overwhelming majority of artifacts (96.6%) associated with feature deposits were recovered from the brick shaft designated Feature 2. In addition to allowing insight into geomorphology and historic landscape modifications, excavation units in the backyard also yielded an assemblage of 1,415 artifacts. However, the majority of the total artifact assemblage (7,430) was recovered from feature-related deposits.

Archaeological excavation at 1018 Palmer Street involved the placement of five excavation units (each measuring 5 x 5 feet), revealing mixed deposits identified within the footprint of the rear additions to the main house and an A-horizon yard deposit in the open backyard area behind the house. Excavation Units 1 through 4 were located within the building footprint of 1018 Palmer Street, probably in the frame addition area attached to the rear of the main house, as shown on a 1916 Sanborn map; Unit 5 was located in approximately the center of the rear yard. Units 1 through 4 revealed sandy loam fill deposits, approximately 1 foot thick (Strats I and II) and containing a high density of mixed historic artifacts overlying subsoil. Excavation Unit 5 revealed a silty loam yard deposit (Strat I), approximately 0.7 feet thick, containing a variety of historic artifacts dating from the early through late nineteenth century. Silt and clay subsoil (Strats II and III) was encountered directly beneath the yard deposit.

Located at the rear of the 1018 Palmer Street lot, Feature 2 was a circular brick-lined privy shaft—approximately 5 feet in diameter—exposed during machine removal of overlying fill deposits. The shaft feature extended to a depth of 5.78 feet below the historic ground surface. Two analytical units (distinct soil deposits) were identified within the shaft fill. Of the 10 stratigraphic fill layers identified, five lower strata (Strats IV, VII, VIII, IX, and X) are considered one analytical unit (B) based on numerous artifact crossmends. These deposits appear related to repurposing an abandoned privy as a trash pit. The second analytical unit (A) consists of the uppermost deposits (Strats I–III), comprised of sandy loam and ash fill deposits unrelated to the lower fill strata. These fill strata correlate with the early-twentieth-century occupation of the property.

The excavation of Feature 2 yielded a total of 6,015 artifacts. Strats IV, V, VI, and VII contained the majority of artifacts recovered from Feature 2, with crossmends throughout these fill deposits. Artifacts from these strata largely date to the occupation of the property by the Cramp (1850–1889) and Bumm (1889–1914) families. Fewer artifacts can be attributed to the Nickel family, who occupied the property between 1914 and 1920. Strats I–III were fill deposits related to the later Nickel family period of occupation and the final closing of the shaft.