Archaeological Backhoe Trench Excavations on the West Bank of the San Antonio River, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

On June 22, 2021, the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) conducted survey level mechanical trenching at 230 to 250 Thelka Street in the historic Beanville neighborhood in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. The property is located on the T2 terrace of the west bank of the San Antonio River south of the confluence of Concepcion Creek. It covers an area of less than 1 acre. The monitoring was performed in response to a request from the City of San Antonio’s Office of Historic Preservation (COSA-OHP) for archaeological investigations in advance of approving a replat of the subject property. The investigation was warranted due to the high potential for historic and prehistoric archaeological deposits. The project falls under the COSA’s Historic Preservation and Design Section of the Unified Development Code (Article 6 35-630 to 35-634). Raymond Mauldin served as Principal Investigator on the project and Clinton McKenzie served as Project Archaeologist. Excavations at the location consisted of the intrusion of two backhoe trenches perpendicular to the San Antonio River, one on the lower terrace of the site and the second on the upper terrace. No cultural features or artifacts were encountered in the lower backhoe trench and only a thin drape of mid-twentieth century trash was encountered in the upper backhoe trench. CAR recommends that no additional work is necessary at the location. All records generated during this project were curated at the CAR in accordance with Council of Texas Archeologists (CTA) guidelines.