It may also be a sump or French drain

Chuck Carrig - RPA



                                                                           
             "Greer, Brian K                                               
             CTR US USA"                                                   
             <Brian.Greer@STEW                                          To 
             ART.ARMY.MIL>             [log in to unmask]                    
             Sent by:                                                   cc 
             HISTORICAL                                                    
             ARCHAEOLOGY                                           Subject 
             <[log in to unmask]         Re: Little Cistern (UNCLASSIFIED)   
             >                                                             
                                                                           
                                                                           
             08/31/2010 12:17                                              
             PM                                                            
                                                                           
                                                                           
             Please respond to                                             
                HISTORICAL                                                 
                ARCHAEOLOGY                                                
             <[log in to unmask]                                             
                     >                                                     
                                                                           
                                                                           




Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: FOUO

Septic system perhaps?


Brian K. Greer
M.A., Archaeologist
Program Manager
Tennessee Valley Authority for
Cultural Resources Management (CRM)
Prevention & Compliance Branch, DPW
Ft. Stewart, GA
912-767-0992
Fx: 912-767-9779
Opinions expressed herein are neither the United States Government nor
that of my Contractor
"ROCK" Resources Optimize Compliance Keep improving


-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Laswell, Jeffrey
Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 2:01 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Little Cistern

Hello All,

During a road reconstruction project in Richmond, Indiana, we uncovered
what appears to be a cistern approximately one and a half feet beneath
the current roadway surface.  It is cylindrical in shape, constructed
with brick and held together by mortar, but was absent of any additional
lining.  The top comes to a staggered brick dome with a two foot
opening. A two inch galvanized pipe appears to run from the floor of the
structure and out the top, continuing at least four feet away from the
collar.  What is puzzling is the size, which is three feet in diameter
and ten feet deep.  This would only hold 600 gallons at most, which
would seem extremely small for a fire cistern.  If it were not beneath
the historic roadway alignment of the National Road (US 40) and fifty
feet from the nearest historic period house (based upon various
1880-1909 Sanborn and plat maps), I would guess that the structure was
domestically related and possibly part of a larger water filtration
system, based upon similar sized cisterns of the period.  The cistern
will be preserved in place and as a result, excavation was not
conducted, which may have addressed many of these questions.  I was
curious if anyone had encountered a comparable type of cistern within an
urban roadway context and could shed some light? Richmond's population
in 1900 was about 20,000.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts...


Jeffrey Laswell
Archaeologist
INDOT Office of Environmental Services
100 N. Senate Ave. IGCN - Room N642
Indianapolis, Indiana
46204-2216
(317) 233-2093
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: FOUO