Archaeological Investigations for the Camaron Street Utilities Project, San Antonio, Texas

"The University of Texas at San Antonio’s (UTSA) Center for Archaeology Research (CAR) provided archaeological services to the City of San Antonio (COSA) associated with street improvements along Kingsbury Street from N. Flores to Camaron Street and along Camaron from Kingsbury to West Houston Street. CAR conducted archaeological monitoring from February to April 2019 (Phase I) and from December 2020 to July 2022 (Phase II). The project area is on COSA-owned lands and required archaeological monitoring under the Antiquities Code of Texas, COSA’s Unified Development Code (UDC) Chapter 35, and concurrent consultation and review from the COSA Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) and the Texas Historical Commission (THC). The work described here was conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit No 8784. Phase I began with former CAR Director Dr. Paul Shawn Marceaux serving as the Principal Investigator (PI) and Leonard Kemp serving as Project Archaeologists (PA). Following the departure of Dr. Marceaux in 2020, José Zapata was made PI, and Dr. Lynn Kim was the PA for Phase II. Following the retirement of Mr. Zapata in 2021, Clinton McKenzie took the PI role. Following the departure of Dr. Kim in 2022, Clinton McKenzie took over the project and finished the remaining tasks associated with the permit. Phase I monitoring occurred along Camaron Street between Martin and Houston Streets and included five perpendicular transecting trenches across the proposed water-sewer utility alignment and four auger holes for traffic lights. Phase II occurred within the larger project area and included excavations for new water and sewer utility lines; communication fiber-optic lines; electrical lines for pedestrian illumination, CPS lighting, and traffic signals; landscape planting areas and support irrigation; and for the placement of new storm drains, sidewalks, driveways, and ramps. It was at the beginning of Phase II that new utility trenches were excavated by a subcontractor without the presence of an archaeological monitor. Due to this action, THC required expanded and comprehensive archival investigation of the impacted areas for inclusion in the final report.

The project area encompassed 1.36 ha (3.35 acres). Several features were found in the project area including three previously recorded sites. A foundation (Feature 1) associated with 41BX2255, the Gembler Blacksmith Shop and Wagon Yard, was found in Phase I. During Phase II, a foundation (Feature 5) associated with site 41BX2256, a residence owned by the Gembler family, and site 41BX2274, which consisted of foundation remnants of two historic residences, were encountered. On 41BX2274, one foundation was the Celso Navarro house, associated with José Antonio Navarro, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The superstructure was relocated to Brackenridge Park in 1948, and the foundation remnants were previously recorded by Pape-Dawson. A second series of foundation remnants included in the 41BX2274 site boundary are from the family residence of John Herndon James, Chief Justice of the Fourth Court of Civic Appeals from 1893-1912. Pape-Dawson recommended further testing for both structures to assist in eligibility determinations (Texas Sites Atlas 2023).

Two new historic archaeological sites were identified. Site 41BX2485 was found in Phase II and consisted of remnant limestone walls dating to circa 1906-1907 (Feature 2) and an unassociated midden (Feature 3) dating from the late nineteenth century. These foundation remnants correspond with a stone structure that fronted east onto Camaron Street north of Travis Street. The CAR recommends that site 41BX2485 is not eligible within the project area for the National Registry of Historic Places (NHRP) or as a State Antiques Landmark (SAL) as the remnant portions lack integrity. Most of the walls and/or features have been removed or seriously disturbed by street widening and utility improvements in the first half of the twentieth century. "