Old Dirt - New Thoughts

On December 26, 1925 the Hamline United Methodist Church was consumed by fire. It is believed to have started when materials from a Christmas celebration were left on a basement furnace and accidentally set ablaze. The building was a total loss. Eyewitnesses describe the eerie beauty of the rose windows lit by the flames within, and the almost human groan as the floor gave way and the organ crashed into the basement.

Despite their loss, church leaders and congregation members immediately made plans to rebuild. They cleared the remaining construction debris during the spring of 1926 and at the same time began laying the foundation for the new church. They decided to set the new church back from the street. The old building site, as a result, was filled-in and then left alone. These two factors, the tragic fire and the relocation of the church building, combine to create an archaeological site of great research potential.

I and other members of the Hamline Village History project are proposing to excavate at the church this fall. We see the church, along with the University and the railroad, as the principle institutions that defined the Hamline community in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. We think that the archaeology combined with oral history and archival research will help bring to life this village between the cities.

The church’s unique preservation is another reason why we want to excavate here. Although buildings are destroyed all the time, lots rarely sit empty for 80 years especially in rapidly growing cities. New construction and remodeling obliterate all but a fraction of the urban archaeological record. It is a great opportunity to excavate in the Hamline neighborhood a site left undisturbed for three-quarters of a century.

The fire itself, surprisingly, may also have helped preserve the church’s archaeological remains. Eyewitnesses describing the church as a “a total loss” probably meant that nothing was salvageable, not that the fire completely consumed everything. A distinct possibility exists that many historically significant items, although damaged beyond repair, may have survived the fire. The potential of significant archaeological finds all depends on how much “clean-up” occurred in 1926. Did they leave all the debris and burned remains that had fallen into the basement, or did they haul it away and fill the basement with clean dirt? I am convinced we will find something - at least a foundation and some of the small debris missed by the cleaners. Even these seemingly inconsequential artifacts can provide a unique window into the past and connect us with the people who built this community where so many of us now live and work.

This excavation will be a public archaeology project. We encourage anyone from the Hamline-Midway neighborhood, the Hamline United Methodist church, or Hamline University to join us this fall. Students taking my class, ANTH 3980: Excavating Hamline’s History, will participate through interdisciplinary collaboration (and you’ll get to dig a lot). Hancock Elementary students in Bob Lein’s class will also get to dig. Be forewarned, though, we find lots of worms! If you’re a high school senior considering coming to Hamline, you should email me if you’re interested in opportunities to learn archaeology (bhoffman at hamline.edu). Finally, if you have money that you’re looking to donate to a good cause, or if you’re willing to help with fund-raising we would love to hear from you.

I’ll continue to post updates as this project develops.

_{Most of the information in the post, including the scanned photographs, comes from Mary Bakeman (ed.) 2006 Casting Long Shadows: 125 Years at Hamline United Methodist Church. Published by Hamline United Methodist Church, St. Paul, MN.}