Archaeology in the Public Eye at 810 Royal Street

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During the University of New Orleans field schools conducted at 801 Royal Street, students uncovered numerous building features dating to different eras of development at the site, from the wall of a French post-in-ground structure from the 1720s-1730s to the foundations of the ca. 1801 building and its outbuildings. In addition, students investigated a brick-lined privy shaft, which had been superimposed on a late-eighteenth-century cesspit. Hundreds of visitors passed by the site every day, giving students and archaeologists a valuable opportunity to speak with the public about the city’s history. The site now regularly features in French Quarter tours, though sometimes it is confused with the St. Peter Street Cemetery site. No human remains were found at 810 Royal Street, but thousands of artifacts were recovered.