Archaeological Investigations of the Proposed Fire Station #24, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

In May 2019 through November 2021, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Center for Archaeological Research (CAR), in response to a request from the City of San Antonio (COSA), conducted archaeological investigations for the replacement of Fire Station No. 24 located in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. This work was accomplished in response to a request from the COSA Office of Historic Preservation (OHP). The project required review under the COSA Unified Development Code (Article 6 35-630 to 35-634) and performed under the Texas Historical Commission (THC) Texas Antiquities Permit No. 8888, with José E. Zapata serving as the Principal Investigator and Antonia L. Figueroa and Leonard Kemp serving as the Project Archaeologists. The initial archaeological investigation consisted of exploratory backhoe trenching within the project area that consisted of 0.77 hectare (1.7 acres). Backhoe trenching did not identify any cultural material or features. The project was modified in May 2021 at the behest of COSA Public Works Department and the archaeological permit amended to include a storm drain outside the original project area (0.01 hectare or 0.02 acre). CAR excavated four shovel tests along the projected path of the storm drain. All but one shovel test encountered construction debris that resulted in their early termination. No artifacts or features were discovered during this phase of testing. CAR monitored the excavation for the storm drain and found that the northwest portion of the proposed storm drain was significantly modified with the addition of construction fill. No features or artifacts were found during the monitoring phase. CAR recommends no further archaeological investigations be conducted for the project. The THC and the OHP agreed with these recommendations. All records generated during the project were prepared in accordance with Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 36 Part 79 and THC requirements for State Held-in-Trust collections. All project related materials, including the final report, are permanently stored at the CAR facilities in accession file number 2181.