Archaeological Investigations at 82 Pitt Street

Archaeologists with Brockington and Associates, Inc., monitored the installation of a swimming pool at 82 Pitt Street in Charleston, South Carolina, to satisfy a preservation easement held by the Historic Charleston Foundation on this property. Test excavations and construction monitoring identified two primary features in the area scheduled for the pool. These are a brick and bone floor and a brick-lined well. The floor may once have been covered by a single-story building based on the presence of rubble, particularly roofing slate and window glass, near the edges of the floor. This building may have been associated with the well. Artifacts recovered during the test excavations suggest occupation from the 1820s to early twentieth century (primarily after the 1840s). Historical information indicates that 82 Pitt Street once was part of the adjacent 84 Pitt Street, where the first residence in this portion of Charleston was constructed. Also, it is unclear if the features relate to this initial occupation of the area, the post-1843 occupations of 82 Pitt Street (when the lot was subdivided and the current house built), or an occupation on the neighboring 80 Pitt Street or 20 Duncan Street. The portion of the current lot at 82 Pitt Street where the pool is located was part of 80 Pitt Street or 20 Duncan Street prior to the early twentieth century. The current documentation of the features is adequate to preserve information concerning these features and the past occupations of 82 Pitt Street. The brick and bone floor may be the first such feature reported in North America. If so, additional investigation of the yard of 82 Pitt Street may be appropriate should future landscaping or alterations result in below-grade disturbances greater than 1.5 feet below the ground surface.