Project:
Convention Center

Location:
City of Pittsburgh

Our Role:
Archaeology and Section 106 Documents

A Phase I Archaeological Survey was completed prior to construction of Pittsburgh’s new Convention Center. At a depth of over 10 feet, artifacts dating from 1830 to 1860 were found including English ceramics, leather shoes, and a unique redware vessel type.

Project:
Jackson’s Row

Location:
City of Pittsburgh, North Shore

Our Role:
Phase I & II Archaeology; Phase III Data Recovery

The unique well on the right side of the photograph was found during archaeological excavations of 14 brick townhouses built in 1837 on Robinson Street in Pittsburgh. Known as Jackson’s Row, the townhouses were home to famous Pittsburghers including William Scaife, Alexander Nimick, Henry Phipps, William W. Mackintosh, and Joseph A. Wilson. Together, these men developed the iron and steel industry that is Pittsburgh’s legacy. The young families living on Jackson’s Row prospered here during Pittsburgh’s major transformation from Indian territory to a fast-paced industrial economy. Through archaeological excavations, these experiences came to life again.

Additional Interest: The last objects thrown into one of the wells were champagne and wine bottles made in the 1850s by William McCully & Co. of Pittsburgh. The bottles were deposited in the well at the same time as Allegheny City’s new water system brought piped water to Jackson’s Row and the old water wells were closed. Did we find the remains of a celebration party?

Project:
PNC Park/ General Robinson Site

Location:
City of Pittsburgh

Awards:
American Cultural Resource Association Industry (ACRA) Award

Our Role:
Phase I Archaeology, Phase II Archaeology, Data Recovery, Historic Structure

CDC conducted a major excavation of the General Robinson Site buried beneath what would become PNC Park Home of the Pirates. This incredible archaeological site was found deeply buried beneath 15 feet of flood and refuse deposits. General William Robinson was the son James Robinson, the first permanent settler on Pittsburgh’s North Side. James Robinson moved here in the 1780s when Native Americans still claimed the land now occupied by the PNC Park and Carnegie Science Center…. then a place of streams, wetlands and islands. The Robinsons built a riverside plantation on an Indian Trail (now Federal Street) and operated a ferry across the Allegheny River. From this plantation home, travelers entered “a howling wilderness.” As more settlers moved across the river from Pittsburgh, the North Side became Pittsburgh’s twin city – Allegheny City – from 1840 to 1907. General Robinson was Allegheny City’s first mayor.

Additional Interest: Archaeologists could nearly recreate the Robinson’s china cupboard filled with expensive blue Chinese and English plates, platters and teawares. The Flood of 1832 damaged General Robinson’s home when floodwaters covered the first floor, nearly reaching the second floor. Many of the family’s beautiful objects washed out of the house into the backyard where the archaeological team found them 175 years later. Native American artifacts including stone tools and corn were found beneath the flood deposits.

Project:
Dixmont State Hospital

Location:
Kilbuck Township, Allegheny County

Awards:
CDC played a part in a WQED Television News Special Report titled: Dixmont

Our Role:
Phase I Archaeological Survey, Effect. Report, MOA, Documentation, Exhibit

CDC conducted a Phase I Cultural Resource Survey for the former Dixmont State Hospital in Kilbuck Township. One of the hospital’s buildings, Reed Hall has been listed on the National Register. The building is significant as one of the nation’s first hospitals built for the mentally ill and for its association with Dorothea Lynde Dix, a prominent social reformer. Reed Hall was designed by a famous local architect, Joseph Kerr, who used the nationally known Kirkbride Plan as a basis for his plans for Reed Hall.

Additional Interest: The owner of the site found Dixmont’s time capsule, a two-gallon glass jar, filled with papers, books, a 1663 coin, and a bronze medal. CDC was given permission to document the contents and condition of the materials including a 1663 coin and a bronze medal. Dixmont has been ravaged by vandals, demolitions, and a devastating fire set in the chapel of Reed Hall.

Project:
Allegheny Commons: West Park

Location:
City of Pittsburgh

Our Role:
Phase I Archaeological Survey

CDC completed a Phase I Archaeological Survey for the West Commons within the Allegheny Commons Park, a City of Pittsburgh Historic District. The park is Pittsburgh’s oldest park and an excellent example of a nineteenth century designed landscape. This image shows the park as it was originally designed.

Additional Interest: No archaeological sites were found in the area of the proposed new road. The city later decided to cancel the road project and return the park to the original landscape design.

Project:
East Ohio Street Improvement Project (SR 0028)

Location:
City of Pittsburgh

Our Role:
Criteria of Effect, Section 4 (f), Phase I Archaeology

This old photograph of East Ohio Street in the 1920s was taken near the 31st Street Bridge. Note the streetcar tracks and cobblestone road. The plan for rebuilding East Ohio Street has required extensive public participation and coordination with local, state, and Federal agencies. CDC prepared the Section 106 documentation for 15 cultural resources and performed a Phase I Archaeology Survey on one section.

Additional Interest: As a subcontractor to Michael Baker Jr. Inc., CDC prepared Section 106 documents including a Criteria of Effect Report and Section 4(f)documents for this complex project.

Project:
Phipps Conservatory

Location:
Pittsburgh

Our Role:
Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form

Henry Phipps gave Pittsburgh its first conservatory, a ‘crystal palace’ designed by one of the nation’s prominent architectural firms, Lord and Burnham of New York. When Phipps Conservatory opened in time for Christmas on December 7, 1893, it was America’s largest conservatory. A few months after the grand opening, the 1894 spring flower show drew over 13,000 visitors. Another prominent architectural firm, Rutan and Russell, designed the adjacent Phipps Halls of Botany in 1901. As the Conservatory grew, other buildings and landscape features were designed by Ralph Griswold, one of Pittsburgh’s most important landscape architects. The Conservatory has been listed on the National Register since 1976.