portals to the past: a collection of posts on unearthing 19th and early 20th century chicago privy pits

the following collection of entries focuses on my 4-year "unearthing chicago" project where i aimed to identify and document what lies beneath our feet. from bottles and bones found in residential privy pits to remnants of chicago's city infrastructure dating back to the mid-19th century, the following posts offer insight into what chicagoan's from the past left behind. additional introductory material will be added when time permits. 

"HOME RULE" IRISHMAN'S CLAY PIPE AND OTHER FORGOTTEN REMNANTS FOUND AT DIVISION AND WELLS

REVISITING "UNEARTHING CHICAGO" IN 2018

ARTIFACTS DATING FROM THE 1860S RECENTLY UNEARTHED FROM DOWNTOWN CHICAGO EXCAVATION SITE

PRIVY VAULT WITH SCATTERED REMNANTS UNEARTHED BEHIND A PRE-FIRE CHICAGO RESIDENCE ON ERIE STREET

A PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY OF 1850'S SODA AND/OR MINERAL WATER BOTTLES UNEARTHED IN CHICAGO BETWEEN 2014-2017

A COLLECTION OF PRE AND POST-FIRE CHICAGO EXCAVATED RESIDENTIAL ALE AND CIDER BOTTLES

REVISITING "UNEARTHING CHICAGO" IN 2018

PRIVY VAULT WITH SCATTERED REMNANTS UNEARTHED BEHIND A PRE-FIRE CHICAGO RESIDENCE ON ERIE STREET

A PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY OF 1850'S SODA AND/OR MINERAL WATER BOTTLES UNEARTHED IN CHICAGO BETWEEN 2014-2017

PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY OF BURIED REMNANTS FROM 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY CHICAGO

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SOON-TO-BE PUBLISHED "UNEARTHING CHICAGO" BLDG. 51 MUSEUM BOOK

19TH CENTURY BUILDING PARTS AND BOTTLES UNEARTHED DURING EXCAVATION NEAR THE M. SCHULTZ PIANO FACTORY (1889)

LATE 19TH CENTURY PRIVY FINDS FROM A CHICAGO WORKERS COTTAGE ON CLEVELAND

UNEARTHING FORGOTTEN 1890'S "NIGHT SCAVENGER" DUMPING SITE DURING NORTH CHICAGO RESIDENTIAL EXCAVATION

DISCOVERY OF FORGOTTEN LATE 19TH CENTURY LANDFILL REVEALS RUBBISH FROM CHICAGO'S PAST FROZEN IN TIME

EARLY 1870'S REMNANTS UNEARTHED FROM FORMER SITE OF STEPHEN ISRAEL'S POST-FIRE CHICAGO PHARMACY

RECONSTRUCTING CHICAGO'S PAST BY UNEARTHING EVERYDAY OBJECTS LEFT BEHIND

RESIDENTIAL PRIVY PIT WITH DISCARDED REMNANTS UNEARTHED FROM A 19TH CENTURY WEST TOWN WORKERS COTTAGE

CIVIL WAR-ERA CIRCULAR PINE WOOD PRIVY VAULT UNEARTHED FROM BACKYARD OF A CHICAGO COTTAGE

BOTTLES AND BUILDING PARTS FROM CHICAGO'S PAST PULLED FROM EXCAVATIONS ACROSS THE CITY

EXCAVATION OF TWO MID-19TH CENTURY WOOD FRAME COTTAGES ON ABERDEEN YIELDS HUNDREDS OF ARTIFACTS

THOUSANDS OF ARTIFACTS UNEARTHED BEHIND AN 1860'S-ERA BUILDING ONCE HOUSING A SALOON

BURIED REMNANTS OFFER GREATER INSIGHT INTO THE DAILY LIVES OF 19TH CENTURY CHICAGOANS

AN AFTERNOON DOCUMENTING TURN OF THE CENTURY TRASH FOUND BENEATH A DEMOLISHED COTTAGES

EXCAVATED 19TH CENTURY SODA BOTTLES GREATLY ASSIST IN DATING A NON-EXTANT CHICAGO COTTAGE AND ITS PRIVY PIT

PARTIALLY UNCOVERED EARLY 1880'S CHICAGO NIGHT SCAVENGER DUMPSITE YIELDS SEVERAL ARTIFACTS

ARTIFACTS LEFT BY 19TH CENTURY CHICAGOANS UNEARTHED FROM THE SITE OF A RECENTLY DEMOLISHED BUILDING

CHICAGO'S EARLIEST KNOWN UNEARTHED OR DUG GLASS "BOTTLE" IS AN AMBER SCROLL FLASK

SEVERAL CHICAGO FIRE ERA BOTTLES, FRAGMENTS AND AN INCREDIBLY WELL-BUILT CIRCULAR WOOD FLOOR PRIVY DISCOVERED THIS WEEK

LAST-MINUTE BACKYARD SLEUTHING LEADS TO THE DISCOVERY OF AN ASH PIT FILLED WITH 19TH CENTURY "RUBBISH"

YET ANOTHER 19TH CENTURY "LANDFILL" PRODUCES AN ABUNDANT HAUL OF HISTORIC CHICAGO "RUBBISH"

MORE POCKETS OF EVERYDAY 19TH CENTURY BOTTLES DISCOVERED IN A CHICAGO DUMPING GROUND

"UNEARTHING CHICAGO" LECTURE HELD AT GLESSNER MUSEUM THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHS

ADDITIONAL FINDS FROM THE "FLASK PRIVY PIT" AND THE CLOSING CHAPTER OF "UNEARTHING CHICAGO"

DISCOVERY OF EARLIEST KNOWN CHICAGO URBAN PRIVY PIT OR VAULT YIELDS REMARKABLE FINDS

UNEARTHED FINDS FROM AN UNDISTURBED AND REMARKABLY PRESERVED 19TH CENTURY CHICAGO FAMILY'S PRIVY VAULT

UNEARTHING CHICAGO: THE MOST RECENT FRAGMENT ASSEMBLAGES FROM MULTIPLE DIG SITES

CIVIL WAR-ERA ARTIFACTS DISCOVERED AT THE SITE OF A CHICAGO HOUSE DEMOLISHED LONG AGO

SEVERAL BOTTLES DISCOVERED AT THE SITE OF A RECENTLY DEMOLISHED HURON STREET HOUSE

19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY PRIVY-DUG CHICAGO BOTTLES MOST RECENT ADDITION TO BLDG. 51 DIGITAL LIBRARY

DISCOVERING MORE PRE AND POST-CHICAGO FIRE BOTTLES MOTIVATES ME TO COMPLETE ANALYSIS ON THE JOHN KENT RUSSELL PRIVY PIT

RECENT FINDS FROM CHICAGO DIG SITES AND THE REMARKABLE DISCOVERY OF A SECOND PRIVY VAULT WOOD FLOOR

AN EVENING SPENT CREATING GLASS BOTTLES AT A CHICAGO-BASED GLASSBLOWING STUDIO

SPORADIC DIGGING FOR UPCOMING "UNEARTHING CHICAGO" BOOK YIELDS MORE FINDS, DEEPER INSIGHTS

REMNANTS OF CHICAGO'S PAST UNEARTHED AT THE FORMER HOWARD JOHNSON INN OR "HOJO" SITE

REVISITING PRIVY "VAULT" AND ASH PIT ASSEMBLAGES FROM THE "UNEARTHING CHICAGO" SERIES

RECONTRUCTING THE C. 1855-1860 JOHN KENT RUSSELL PINE WOOD "PRIVY VAULT" TAPERED EDGE FLOOR

REEXAMINING A MID-19TH CENTURY CHICAGO WOOD-LINED PRIVY "VAULT" AND CESSPOOL THROUGH MATERIAL ANALYSIS

DISCARDED "W.H.H." SODA BOTTLE UNEARTHED AFTER 155 YEARS REAWAKENS A MOSTLY DORMANT INTEREST IN OLD BOTTLES

REVISITING THE FORMER SITE OF THE JOHN KENT RUSSELL HOUSE DURING ITS EXCAVATION

SEVERAL MORE ARTIFACTS UNEARTHED AT THE "BIG DIG" SITE EARLIER THIS WEEK

THREE 19TH CENTURY BRICK-LINED PRIVY PITS YIELD VERY LITTLE, BUT DIGGING WILL CONTINUE ON NEXT WEEK

UNEARTHING A FORMER PARKING LOT YIELDS A WEALTH OF ARTIFACTS FROM CHICAGO'S PAST

PONTILED BOTTLES TOSSED FROM A PASSING SCHOONER IN THE EARLY 1850'S DISCOVERED AT WOLF POINT

A MID-19TH CENTURY SODA BOTTLE DISCOVERED DURING EXCAVATIONS AT WOLF POINT; MORE TO FOLLOW

A DAY OF SALVAGE AND URBAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION AT A 19TH CENTURY CHICAGO TWO-FLAT RESIDENCE

BOTTOM OF THE JOHN KENT RUSSELL WOOD-LINED PRIVY REACHED: YIELDS HUNDREDS OF ARTIFACTS

ONGOING EXCAVATION EFFORTS AT THE JOHN KENT RUSSELL SITE YIELDS A NEWLY DISCOVERED ARTIFACT-LADEN PRIVY

SUNDAY SPENT EXAMINING 19TH CENTURY BUILDING MATERIALS AND PRIVY PIT FINDS

LONG-FORGOTTEN 19TH CENTURY CHICAGO LANDFILL YIELDS HUNDREDS OF BOTTLES

IMAGES FROM THE BLDG. 51 "UNEARTHING CHICAGO" PROJECT ARCHIVE