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The 2002 Delaware Archaeology Month poster highlights some of the
historic archaeological sites investigated along the City of
Wilmington
’s
Christiana
River
waterfront. These sites were
investigated in conjunction with an ongoing effort to
revitalize areas of the City that
once contained a large portion of the industrial and commercial
activity that provided the City’s “Life’s Blood.”
Owing to changing economic conditions and demographics, the waterfront
fell on hard times, and the shops and industrial yards that crowded it
disappeared.
The backdrop
consists of a portion of “A Birdseye View of the City of
Wilmington
,” provided courtesy of the Historical Society of Delaware.
This depiction shows the City of
Wilmington
as it existed at the time of the Civil War, in the 1860s.
Although conjectured and presented from an artist’s perspective, it is
based in large measure on contemporary sources, including maps, prints, and
photographic images. It is considered
a reasonably accurate representation of what the area would have looked
like on any given day at the time of the Civil War.
The “Birdseye View” effectively conveys the vitality of the city, and
underlines the important role the
Christiana
River
played in its historic development and evolution.
The river, in addition to serving as one of the city’s main arteries of
transportation and commerce, was a focal point of much of the city’s
industrial activity, being the primary area where many of the largest industrial
concerns, as well as many of the smaller specialized craft and artist
enterprises, were located. Large
concerns, such as the Harlan & Hollingsworth shipyard, were among the principal
sources of employment for the city’s residents, while the smaller enterprises
provided goods and services for local consumption and specialized support
functions for the larger concerns. It
can truly be said that the Christiana waterfront provided the underpinnings for
the economic infrastructure of
the City of
Wilmington
.
The
photographic images and line drawings superimposed on the “Birdseye View”
represent some of the archaeological remains exposed during
excavations along the waterfront. The
images are from four of the dozen
or so sites that were excavated and represent a cross section of
the sites documented for the area. Sites
not depicted include a lumberyard,
a grocery, and a wheelwright’s shop, as well as a number of residences and a
variety of industrial areas relating to such things as production of leather.
The sites depicted span
almost the whole period of development along the waterfront.
They are keyed to their actual locations on the “Birdseye View.”
The
earliest site depicted on the poster is an 18th century boat slip located
at the foot of Market Street. This may have been used as a ferry across
the Christiana until the early part of the 19th century, when it was replaced by
a permanent bridge. Two of the sites relate to one of Wilmington's most
important industries, shipbuilding. Wilmington's shipbuilding industry was
pre-eminent in terms of production capacity and innovation, which led to the
naming of the area along the river as "America's Clyde." The
first of these sites is the Harris Shipyard, which was established in the
18th century and remained in business until the Civil War. The Harris
Shipyard was involved in the construction and repair of wooden sailing vessels.
The second site is the Harlan &
Hollingsworth Shipyard established in the mid-19th century.
It stayed in business under a variety of names until after World
War II. This shipyard engaged in the
production of steam-powered iron-hulled ships and was one of the innovators in
the field. It was one of the leading
manufacturers of corvette escorts, and specialized landing craft so essential to
the conduct of the amphibious military operations that were the hallmark of
America
’s World War II campaigns in the Pacific, as well as an important element of
operations in the North African and European theaters of war.
The last site depicted
is a blacksmith shop that
was in operation for most of the 19th century.
The remains depicted at this site indicate that the activities undertaken
ranged from the mundane, such as the replacement of horseshoes, to the more
esoteric, such as the production of components possibly contracted out by the
nearby wheelwright and carriage works, as well as castings for the adjacent
shipyards.
All of the
archaeological sites explored in the course of the excavations along the
waterfront help to flesh out the details of that grand pageant we call history.
They are a reminder that history is not static, and that it need not be confined to the realm of the written word as put down
in books and documents, or even to the visible remnants of that past as
represented by surviving structures and in more or less intact landscapes.
The archaeological footprints of these sites offer a valuable supplement
to historic source materials, and they provide a tangible link with the past.
They are proof positive that history is not just in our mind’s eye, but
that it is literally underfoot, awaiting discovery and helping us to understand
who we were and who we are, both in terms of ourselves as individuals and in
terms of ourselves as members of a society or a culture.
Robert F. Hoffman,
MAAR Associates, Inc.
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