626 Bourbon Street
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In 2017, Dr. D. Ryan Gray led students and volunteers from University of New Orleans to excavate a portion of a private residence in the French Quarter located at 626 Bourbon Street. The team excavated a series of test units and shovel tests in the historical footprint of the modern property’s backyard and ground floor. Artifacts dated to the antebellum and included crucibles - ceramic vessels used in metalworking. The exact reason that they were used in this household is unknown, but newspaper records suggest that in the antebellum, crucibles were used for blacksmithing, gold prospecting, experimentation, counterfeiting, and theft.
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Detail from the New Orleans Notarial Archives Plan Book Plan
Source: Courtesy Hon. Chelsey Richard Napoleon, Clerk of Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans | Date: Aug. 13, 1985
New Orleans Notarial Archives Plan Book Plan (72.9.8.13.1855).
Source: Courtesy Hon. Chelsey Richard Napoleon, Clerk of Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans. | Date: Aug. 13, 1985,
Photograph of 626 Bourbon Street at the time of excavation.
Source: Photograph by D. Ryan Gray, used with permission by the University of New Orleans. | Date: April 2017
Upper privy shaft at 626 Bourbon Street.
Source: Photograph by D. Ryan Gray, used with permission by the University of New Orleans. | Date: May 12, 2017
Lower cess pit beneath privy shaft at 626 Bourbon Street.
Source: Photograph by D. Ryan Gray from the University of New Orleans. | Date: May 2017.
Concentration of roofing slate and construction debris in upper levels in Unit N 2 E 17,
Source: Photograph by D. Ryan Gray, used with permission by the University of New Orleans. | Date: April 14, 2017
Progression of City Square 61 development, as shown in the Robinson Atlas from 1883 (upper left), the Fire Insurance Map from 1885 (upper right), the Fire Insurance Map from 1896 (lower left), and the Fire Insurance Map from 1908 (lower right).
Source: Courtesy of the New Orleans Public Library and Hon. Chelsey Richard Napoleon, Clerk of Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans.Map
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