Kicking myself!

Hey all!

I wrote a while back about detecting a permission at a brewery site that dates back to the early 1800s which pretty much turned out to be a big bust. But I never thought about detecting the brewery site that I currently work. Granted there isn't a lot of open ground, but one open parking area and a few grassy strips. I hadn't thought of it because the older part of the building was only built in the mid 80's. It only dawned on me yesterday that the area is part of the original city settlement and was well populated also in the early 1800s.

I was able to find the Sanborn maps from 1894 and found many businesses and homes on the property. Speaking with some of the people involved in the construction of the new building, they told of LOTS of period items being found on site while clearing the lot including wells, cisterns, pottery, and much more. So now I only have to wait for the ground to thaw! Also waiting for the company to eventually do a street tearout that needs to be done quite badly. It was a public street, now a private road, so could also be quite the virgin site if I can get to it. Looking forward to spring, and greatly hoping it's not a letdown like the last one.

Fingers crossed, Chris! You folks still have lots of brewing gong on! Are you old enough to remember Lavern and Shirley? :lol:

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Originally Posted by OxShoeDrew

Are you old enough to remember Lavern and Shirley? :lol:

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Yeah, I'm old enough to have watched the first runs of the series, along with Happy Days before that. But if you want to talk age by TV show, how about the Mary Tyler Moore show, or Lou Grant?

Loved MTM, I go back to first runs of Brady Bunch, Batman...although with Batman I had to clandestinely watch from the stair case after bed time :lol:

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Originally Posted by OxShoeDrew

Loved MTM, I go back to first runs of Brady Bunch, Batman...although with Batman I had to clandestinely watch from the stair case after bed time :lol:

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Brady Bunch I remember (1969). But Batman was a bit before my time since it first aired in Jan. 1966

Just to drop some more info, here's what I found on the 1894 Sanborn map. The highlighted box is where the plant now sits. Most of it is either buildings or paved. 10Th street is what needs to be torn out eventually so hoping it'll get done before I stop working here. The Northern 1/3 of the narrow lot is unpaved with some gravel and open ground which may someday be used to expand the parking lot. Here was a carriage shop and other unnamed buildings, plus the alley ways which bordered the Turner Hall (German athletic club which hosted lots of entertainment and sports events) The section due West bordering the property is now a freeway. There are plenty of other green spaces surrounding the buildings as well which could produce something if the utilities underground didn't disturb these areas much.
Side note: I also just now found a Milwaukee map dating to 1836. Development extended to 2 blocs East and these lots were not shown as inhabited, but were fully plotted and streets built and named/numbered. Likely there was already plenty of people in the area, so who knows.


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Good providence.