Digging into history in Ancaster
Archeological dig at former Memorial School takes archeologists through a 19th century time warp
IT’S AMAZING what you can find if you dig around in Ancaster.
The community, established as a town in 1793, is one of the oldest European-built settlements in Ontario and has lots of collectibles from history lingering beneath the surface of the ground.
And that’s exactly what Stephen Brown and his archeological team from Kitchener-based Archaeological Research Associates Ltd. have found over the past 10 weeks at the Memorial Elementary School site on Wilson Street.
Workers have unearthed thousands of items and pieces of items, almost all from the early to late 1800s.
They’ve found foundations and infrastructure from six buildings that had been demolished to make way for the school more than 70 years ago.
The property, through the late 1800s and early 1900s, had a grocery store, a tinsmith shop, a carpet weaver, a stable and a log-cabin-styled residence along with a shed.
Beyond that, the archeological team has collected all kinds of bottles, pieces of ceramics and coins along with a cask that was likely used to carry liquor.
Of particular interest was a nearperfect condition ginger beer bottle from Pilgrim Bros. and Co. of Hamilton, from a century ago.
The archeological dig, expected to be completed by the end of next week, is a preliminary step in plans to construct the $12-million Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre.
The school board declared the 70-year-old school at 357 Wilson St. E. surplus in 2013, and the City of Hamilton bought the 1.7 hectare property for $2.25 million to be used for the centre that is still looking for further government and private donations to pay for the project.
“I like finding the little nuggets that make it personal,” said Brown.
“We found hundreds of smoking pipe stems in the basement of the grocery store, which means at some point in history someone would go down there and have a pipe and probably drink some brandy to get away from it all.
“I guess the basement back then was somebody’s man-cave,” he said.
“Those kind of discoveries touch me, because you can create a story.”
But despite all their digging, they found no items from the War of 1812. The oldest object found was a coin from 1820.
Long before the school was built on the property, the site is believed to have been used for the Bloody Assize in 1814, a series of trials during the War of 1812 involving 19 men charged with high treason.
A special court was authorized to sit at Ancaster. Fifteen men were condemned to death as traitors. Eight men were executed at Burlington Heights while the rest were sentenced to exile.
“There is a historical plaque for this property that mentions the Bloody Assize. But we found no evidence that there were activities from the War of 1812 here,” said Brown.
When it comes to First Nations’ history, he said, the diggers found flake stones that would have been created from grinding stone to make tools, along with a scraper used for scraping hides.
“But there were not enough items discovered to say there was a (First Nations) campsite there at any point,” said Brown.
It’s expected a selection of the artifacts found will be put on display at the arts centre after it is built, said Brown.
Stone dislodged from the building ruins will be recycled into local construction projects, and the entire site will be infilled with sand before construction begins, he said.
The architectural firm that designed the project has proposed a 450-seat theatre, a gallery, multiple small rooms for storage and other uses, and the construction of a European-style piazza with a one-way entrance from Wilson Street.
In addition, the plan includes selling off a portion of the property behind the building to construct 24 residential units for seniors.
Funds from the sale of the land will be placed into the Ancaster reserve fund for future use, said Ancaster councillor Lloyd Ferguson.