The excavation at the site of the original St. Ferdinand Church in
Florissant, Missouri, got underway this week.

Even the last-minute thunderstorm and ensuing downpour couldn't dampen
the spirits of the dozens of people who gathered around the small
pavilion in Spanish Land Grant Park Wednesday morning for a short
opening ceremony, emceed by Gretchen Crank. Gretchen is the Chair of
the Archaeology Subcommittee of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial
Commission, which has been coordinating and promoting this project.

The audience heard some very nice words from Florissant Mayor Robert
Lowry, the Missouri Historical Society's Don Johnson, the
Archaeological Research Center's Joe Harl, and Father John Dempsey of
the current St. Ferdinand Catholic Church.

Given that it was a workday for many folks, I was very pleased at the
number of Mound Citizens who were able to stop by, too. Many other
interested member of the community were there and there were also a few
newspeople there covering the story.

By 10:00, Joe's crew, along with several volunteers, had broken ground
on four excavation units, each measuring one meter by two meters. The
rains had definitely softened the ground, but it didn't appear to be
enough to interfere with the shovel scraping and troweling. It made
screening was a bit tougher, but nothing insurmountable.

Before I had to leave for the office around noon, each unit had been
excavated at least the first ten centimeters and small artifacts
started showing up, including a small flake of what could be Cobden
chert and another that might be Ste. Genevieve chert. Neither material
is indigenous to the Florissant area, so it's helps support the
speculation that there might be a prehistoric component to the site.

A web page for this project should be up and running sometime this
weekend. Initially, it will contain some photos of the site and
excavation, along with copies of the Archaeology Subcommittee meeting
minutes and some other documents that provide background on the both
the church and the excavation. I'll send out a short message when it's
ready.

The excavation is open from 9am to 5pm, Wednesdays through Sundays
through June 6. I sincerely hope you'll stop by and see for yourself
what the excitement is all about, especially this Memorial Day weekend
(an appropriate holiday for taking time to reflect on the past, eh?)

The excavation is located on the St. Ferdinand Street side of the Park,
just a few blocks away from the St. Ferdinand Shrine (for those of you
who know the area, St. Ferdinand Street turns into Graham Road a few
blocks to the south). There's no parking on St. Ferdinand Street, but
there should be plenty of space available along St. Charles Street,
just one short block to the east.

For more information about the St. Ferdinand Excavation project, please
contact me (info below) or Gretchen Crank at gdcrank@..., 838-5085
or 795-6306. We'll also have a short report at our next Mound City
Archaeological Society meeting, which will be held at 6:30pm this
coming Tuesday, June 1 at the History Museum in Forest Park.

More updates coming soon!

Greg

Greg Paulus
President, Mound City Archaeological Society
bgpaulus@... or greg@...
(314) 704-3507