AHF is excited to announce a partnership with the City of Boston Archaeology Department around the historic courtyard at Old City Hall. City Archaeologist Joe Bagley will be leading a dig this summer in the hopes of uncovering remnants of and artifacts from what is believed to be the oldest schoolhouse in North America. School Street was one of the first streets to be laid out in Boston soon after the arrival of the Winthrop Colony in 1630, and not long after that the first schoolhouse was built in 1645. This summer’s dig hopefully will uncover remnants of the early schoolhouse as well as foundation of a later dated schoolmaster’s house and many other artifacts that will give us clues to what life was like in Boston in the 17th century. Remarkably, the site upon which Old City Hall and the courtyard sit is one of the most lightly developed sites in all of Boston, and one of the very few that have remained under City ownership continuously since the first colonists arrived in Massachusetts. This offers an unprecedented window into early Boston history and the origins of the Boston Latin School (where many noted Bostonians were educated including Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams and John Hancock). Follow the dig, which we hope will be under way this June, at our Old City Hall website and on Facebook at facebook.com/bostonarchaeologyprogram and on Twitter at @bostonarchaeo.
