Van McMurray Playground (16OR752): A Case Study of Urbanization in a New Orleans Neighborhood

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 2022, TerraXplorations, Inc. excavated Van McMurray Playground (16OR752) in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans in preparation for the construction of a new drainage system to combat climate change-related flooding events. The assemblage of over 1,000 artifacts collected had a time depth from the Antebellum period through the 1960s. Intact features, including a cistern and privy, corresponded to the neighborhood’s urban expansion from a plantation to a New Orleans suburb and, finally, an incorporated neighborhood in a world city. Over time, demographics shifted from predominantly European immigrants to a majority of African Americans, with multiple land-use changes evident in historical records, including urban renewal projects in the 1960s. This investigation provided data about the history of urbanization in New Orleans and the African Americans who shaped Central City.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow