Pima County Courthouse Sewerline Monitoring and Data Recovery
Purpose
Archaeological monitoring and data recovery was conducted around the 1929 Pima County Courthouse during remodeling work associated with repurposing the building and for construction of the January 8th Memorial on the west side of the courthouse.
Actions
Monitoring utility trench construction on the courthouse property
Test trenching and boring on the west side of the courthouse
Data recovery excavations in the footprint of the January 8th Memorial
On-camera interviews and content generation for a public outreach video
Results
Data recovery was conducted, resulting in the discovery of the foundations of the first Pima County Courthouse, the first Tucson City Hall and Jail, and features associated with the Presidio San Agustín del Tucson.
Monitoring a utility trench through W. Alameda Street led to the recovery of human remains from the Presidio Cemetery, extending the known area of the cemetery. A pit beneath the south curb of W. Alameda Street contained a precontact plain ware jar.
Monitoring on the east side of the courthouse resulted in the discovery of a wall from the 1883 Tucson Firehouse. Work along the north side of the courthouse encountered another portion of the east Presidio wall. Another Hohokam pit structure lay beneath N. Church Avenue and W. Alameda Street.
Monitoring along the north side of the courthouse led to the recovery of three features, including the inhumation mortuary feature of an adult male and the scattered remains of three other individuals.
The Presidio-era artifacts and food materials are the largest sample yet recovered from that time in Tucson, and they provide significant information not recorded in the few surviving documents from the fort.
Pima County produced a video detailing our archaeological work at the memorial, featuring historical footage and commentary from Desert Archaeology project director Homer Thiel.
