This document discusses an archaeological discovery made during a transportation enhancement project in Logan Square, Philadelphia. During excavation, archaeologists uncovered 58 grave shafts clustered together from an old burial ground. This presented challenges as disturbing the burials had legal and ethical issues. The solution was to work with architects to modify the project design and limit excavation depths to avoid the burials. Archaeological monitoring during construction further ensured the burials were protected. Through collaboration rather than full excavation, the project could continue while preserving the archaeological finds.

1. Look what we found … so what do we do now?
Dealing with urban archaeological finds, an example from Philadelphia
by Kenneth J. Basalik, Ph.D. (CHRS, Inc.)
Urban Archaeology is typified by the investigation of landscapes with complex
developmental histories that result in intricate soil stratigraphy and buried cultural components.
When exploring these multifaceted areas the non-archaeologist sees disturbances, the urban
archaeologist sees the potential for the extraordinary. If significant archaeological remains are
encountered, data recovery investigations in an urban setting can be expensive. For the non-
archaeologist who saw a disturbed landscape, such costs are unexpected. This is particularly true
for enhancement projects, where non-State agency officials often do not fully consider the cost
of environmental and archaeological studies when budgeting their projects. This paper provides a
project example of an unexpected urban find on a transportation enhancement project in an urban
setting. The work was performed in Logan Square in the City of Philadelphia
The project was located in an area of Logan Square fronting the Cathedral Basilica of Saints
Peter and Paul is commonly referred to as Sister Cities Plaza. Center City District in conjunction
with the Federal Highway Administration proposed to make improvements to Sister Cities Plaza
to attract greater use by a diverse population of all ages, while revitalizing this prominent
landscape and enhancing views to and from the Cathedral. New elements include a re-designed
plaza and fountain commemorating Philadelphia’s Sister Cities, a Children’s Discovery Garden,
and a café with a multi-purpose educational and community room.
Logan square is one of five squares in the City [slide 2]. Centre Square is now the location
of City Hall. Northeast square is now Franklin Square, Southwest Square is now Rittenhouse

2. Square; Southeast Square is now Washington Square and Northwest Square is now Logan
Square.
Logan Square, like other squares in the city, was open space that witnessed a variety of
activities. Scharf and Westcott’s History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 contained several
references to the use of the public square as a Potter’s Field during the early nineteenth century
[slide 3]. Although the date of the earliest interments is not known, it is presumed that the
residents of the western section of Philadelphia employed the nearby square for burial purposes
out of convenience, rather than using the distant Southeast (now Washington) Square. Upon the
closing of Washington Square to interments in 1794, additional repositories for the city’s dead
were established and the formal title of “Potter’s Field” was transferred to Logan Square.
According to Scharf and Westcott, a part of Logan Square had also been used as a graveyard for
the German Reformed Church. Philadelphia City Council declared in 1812 that “for a
considerable time the public square situated on the north side of Sassafras [now Race St.] and on
the east and west sides of Schuylkill Fourth and Fifth Streets had without any authority been
used as a place of interment for the bodies of persons dying at the almshouse, at the State prison,
and at the Pennsylvania Hospital, and of strangers not belonging to any religious society.” Both
the unauthorized use of the square and the official burials of the city were deemed, in 1812, to be
inappropriate and an infringement upon the rights of Philadelphians, and all public squares of
Philadelphia were closed to burials on July 10th of that year. [slide 4]. The discontinuation of the
square as a burial ground did not preclude the use of the land as a public execution ground,
although this practice was halted subsequent to the hanging of murderer William Gross in Logan
Square on February 7, 1823.

3. Between the discontinuation of the square’s use as a burying ground and the final public
execution, the square was leased from the City by the adjacent Orphan’s Society for use as a
pasture-ground. In an act of the City Council in May 1825, the names of the primary public
squares of Philadelphia were officially changed, and Northwest Square became Logan Square,
after William Penn’s secretary and prominent Philadelphian, James Logan.
In 1853, City Council authorized the enclosure of the primary public squares with iron
railings, thereby formalizing their boundaries and limiting the type of public use of the spaces to
a park like setting. [slide 5] By 1859 the landscaping of Logan Square had been formalized, with
the planting of trees, and the establishing of walkways
This formal park setting did not prevent Logan Square [slide 6] from being the site of the
Great Sanitary Fair of 1864, which involved the erection of temporary structures covering the
entire square. An effort to raise funds for the care of sick and wounded military of the Civil War,
this Great Fair was an enormous undertaking lasting three weeks. [slide 7]
The Square was returned to its park setting and remained in this condition through the late
19th and early twentieth centuries [slide 8].
The installation of the traffic circle and Swann Fountain in Logan Square [slide 9]
encompassed all of the land between Vine, 18th, Race, and 20th Streets and was completed in
1924. Contained within this area, however, is the inclusion of large pockets of green space that
are used as recreational areas that were not subjected to construction or paving.
Archaeology was performed in parts of the Sister Cities Plaza portion of Logan Square. The
work consisted of examining the portions of the site where more than surfical disturbances were
to take place [slide 10]

4. Mechanical stripping reveals Fifty eight grave shafts within the APE. Fifty three of the
graves [slide 11] were found clustered together in the southeastern portion of the proposed
construction impacts located adjacent to 18th Street and directly across the street from the
Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. The graves were regularly spaced and laid out in closely
packed rows, roughly parallel to 18th Street. .
The majority of the graves were pinched toed in shape [slide 12]. The number and regular
placement of the graves is consistent with a formal cemetery and suggests that the burials
represent a portion of the German Reformed Church graveyard that was report by Scharf and
Westcott.
So here we were. We had found a large number of burials within the APE that would be
disturbed by the project. Given the vast changes to Logan Square, the client had assumed a
disturbed landscape. There had initially been no money set aside for archaeology. Money had
been found for a limited Phase I archaeological survey, but now as many as 58 burials could be
impacted. As much as I personally would have relished the excavation of the burials, we needed
another option. Excavation the burials had legal, ethical, social, and political ramifications in
addition to funding issues.
The solution was incredibly simple and a solution that is often overlooked by archaeologists.
The solution was to talk with the architects. [Slide 13] By working directly with the design team
we could place the problem before them and discuss the ramifications of each action. Avoidance
was the best alternative, but given the limited area examined and the presence of scatter burials
elsewhere on the site moving elements around on the site, might mean more archaeology. Plus
certain elements, such as utilities, could not easily be moved. Ultimately a solution was found.
The design was revised to limit the depth of the foundation and utility trenches to a point above

5. where the tops of the burials were encountered. To ensure that no inadvertent exposure would
occur the archaeological investigation were covered with a white sand to identify the location of
top of burial and an archaeological monitor was present during the excavations associated with
the foundation fabrication and utility installation. This solution could not be used for the main
utility box hook up. The box needed to be set deep enough to access utilities in the street and
provide sufficient room. Fortunately, it was possible to move the box to a location that
archaeological testing had indicated contained no burials.
Where the non-archaeologists saw disturbances, the urban archaeologist found the
extraordinary and was the penny pinching hero of the day, rather than the expensive goat. In the
end, the burials were protected and the project moved forward [Slide 14].