In 2019, archaeologists with AECOM excavated a portion of the parking lot at 300 N. Columbus Boulevard. They were searching for materials related to the 17th century shipyard that had been located there in advance of a planned development project for the site by the New York firm the Durst Organization. Six years later, 150,000 artifacts have been identified, conserved, and are now on their way to a new home in Harrisburg with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC).

James West founded his shipyard in 1676, before the founding of the city, at the foot of the Water Street steps, which at that time was the Delaware River waterfront. “During the ship building period, most of the building occurred on the water’s edge and some of it on wharves,” noted Joel Dworsky, archaeologist with AECOM. In 1987, the parcel became the first archaeological site added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.

The site was an active shipyard until about the mid-18th century. “It represents the very end of a pre-industrial, almost medieval craft of shipbuilding. I was interested in the larger economics of shipbuilding at that time. There was a large market for Philadelphia-built ships in Europe, so a lot of those that were built here were for export,” explained Dworsky.

“After the shipbuilding period, the site was a center for the Philadelphia salt trade, which was vital for the preservation of food,” he continued. “In the late 18th century, there was a run of several salt warehouses along Vine and Water Streets. It grew out of the Revolutionary period, when the British blockaded the salt trade coming from the Caribbean and South America.”

An archaeological dig proceeded vertically, with the first layers yielding items from the most recent occupation of the site. “Because of the nature of the structures being built on top of older things, we study, document, remove to see what’s underneath. Usually by the time we’re down to just the soil, there’s nothing more to see.”

Eventually the waterfront was extended further into the river, although the former shipyard site remained fairly wet. “It’s the best organic preservation I’ve seen. Most of the material we found was in deep fills in the water. Once we pulled them out, we kept them in water to avoid them drying out,” said Dworsky. “The water-logged conditions are a double-edged sword. It’s a hard environment to work in, but the artifacts like wood, leather, and bone are well-preserved.”

Eventually, the total number of artifacts that they excavated reached an astounding 150,000. By comparison, Dworsky noted that an excavation of a typical domestic household might yield around 10,000.

Many of the finds were relics of the site’s shipbuilding past, including a measuring tool called a shipbuilder’s bevel gauge, with the numbers etched in the brass still visible. A more ominous item is a pewter syringe that was used to treat venereal disease aboard ships by injecting mercury into the patient.

“Because it was a workplace, there really weren’t a lot of people in residence there,” Dworsky explained. “But the fill-in material yielded household refuse from several city blocks, like a wine bottle that still had a wax seal on it and with the initials J.M. in it. We tried really hard to narrow down who it was.”

“It also includes artifacts attributed to the Penny Pot Tavern (c. 1690), which provides a rich array of early colonial table wares,” added a PHMC spokesperson. Other domestic and personal items include a number of engraved tobacco pipes with maker’s marks and nearly 40 pairs of shoes from the 17th and 18th centuries.

One artifact that was unearthed surprisingly intact is one of Dworsky’s favorites. “It’s a piece of bone, with the carving ‘a trifle from Philadelphia’ on it and a waterfront scene,” he explained. “It’s a little bigger than a silver dollar in size. We called it a sailor’s love token.”

As painstaking as an archaeological dig is, the subsequent work of conservation, inventory, and documentation is equally so. “An archaeological collection is more than just the artifacts,” explained the PHMC spokesperson. “It also includes all the documentation from the excavation, such as artifact inventories, photographs, field notes and sketches, and a report.”

“All the leather, wood and metal material have been conserved, so it’s now a stable, preserved collection,” noted Dworsky. Metal objects such as a padlock were also x-rayed so their inner workings could be studied. The work was done at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab along the Eastern Shore, part of Maryland’s State Museum of Archaeology.

Beyond the artifacts, the structures they unearthed, such as wharves, were generally mapped, photographed, studied, and then left in place. The exceptions were any structures they encountered in areas of the parcel where building might take place, which were removed.

The work continues in Harrisburg, where PHMC curators are reviewing the materials and its documentation, accessioning it into their collection of over 14 million artifacts, and transferring it to a new home in a climate-controlled storage location. “We have no immediate plans for the collection,” said the PHMC spokesperson. “Artifacts are available for study. They may also be borrowed for exhibit by another museum.”

“The hope is to bring at least a portion of the collection back to Philadelphia for display,” said Dworsky. “It was sent to PHMC, so there’s a definite repository for it and it is integrated into the state system.”

The future of the planned development for the 1 ½ acre site is less clear. In 2021, the Durst Organization obtained zoning and building permits to construct a 25 story, 360-unit building with ground floor commercial space on the site. Zoned CMX-3, the plans included height bonuses for mixed income housing, stormwater management, green building, public space, a trail, and public art, bringing the total height to 322 feet.

Although permits for plumbing, electrical, and excavation were issued in the following year, construction has not begun on the parcel and all have expired. A spokesperson for the developer told Hidden City, “The Durst Organization is currently restoring and reopening two sidewalks along Vine Street and North Water Street. They’re reopening the sidewalks for the community.” In a press release, they further noted, “While the challenging financial market and escalating construction costs have paused the development timeline, the company continues to maintain the property and evaluate future development opportunities.”

In addition to the former West Shipyard site, the Durst Organization also owns parcels across the street, at 319 and 410 N. Columbus Boulevard, collectively called Pier 24.

Although archaeologists may not have a say in development plans, Dworsky noted, hopefully, “The buildings will likely be sited on the southern half of the parcel because that’s where we found the fewest artifacts. The idea was to minimize the impact on the archaeology.”

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