Digging in parking lot unearths little

An examination of the B1 parking lot on Jefferson Park Avenue has not turned up any evidence of intact cultural deposits, according to archaeologist Benjamin P. Ford. sHe was called in to conduct the study in anticipation of future construction there.

According to historical records, William Preston and James Johnson acquired two one-acre lots in 1868, and their families lived there until the mid-1890s, when smaller lots were sold off to other African Americans. Throughout the 19th century, this neighborhood was referred to as ‘Canada’ by its residents and neighbors. Eventually a few lots were sold to white owners after the turn of the century. The houses were torn down in the late 1960s and the B1 lot was built in 1976, Ford said. Bulldozers grading the surface stripped some of the land down to bedrock, wiping out much of what would have been left.