Classes are finally off and running here at Brown, and we are excited to have a great new group of students enrolled in the Archaeology of College Hill. This year, we are moving our excavations from Brown’s campus to the campus of our neighbors at the Moses Brown School. We have picked out an area for our trenches, and will be putting our trowels in the dirt for the first time on Monday.

This year’s class will be investigating what was once a separate property at the corner of Hope St. and Lloyd Ave. (next to the Moses Brown sign), where a house owned by the Sacks family stood from approx. 1884-1939. We have been doing some preliminary research at the Rhode Island Historical Society, where we’ve come across some wonderful maps like the one below, which comes out of the New Topographical Atlas of Surveys, Providence County, Rhode Island (1895).

A close-up of the Sacks Property at the corner of Hope St. and Lloyd Ave, with the Moses Brown School property to the northeast

Check back throughout the semester to hear from our students, and follow our progress as we discover more about the Sacks family, the Moses Brown School, and Providence at the turn of the 20th century! You can also follow us on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Archaeology-of-College-Hill-177595895764616/