Archaeological testing of proposed sewer line location at Mission San José

Abstract

In April 1984 archaeologists from the Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, excavated a backhoe trench outside the west wall of Mission San José. The purpose of the investigation was to determine if a proposed sewer line for the San Antonio 201 Wastewater Facilities Improvements Project would affect any major historic or prehistoric resources. A stone-lined well was found that was constructed sometime after the secularization of the mission in 1893 and continued in use, first as a well and later as a privy pit, until ca. 1940. Because of the likelihood of stratified deposits of 19th-century artifacts within the well fill, the site is recommended for archaeological excavation.