Transbay Archaeology Exhibit: SOMA Construction Unveils Preserved Gold Rush Artifacts (PHOTOS)

Just like we all learned from Encino Man, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority recently discovered that the best treasures are often found when you aren't looking for them.

While excavating the SOMA site of the new Transbay Transit Center -- hoped to become the "Grand Central Station of the West" -- the Joint Powers Authority discovered an enormous collection of preserved artifacts from the 19th century Gold Rush era buried beneath the soil. Included in the findings are apothecary jars, glass soda and liquor bottles, ink wells, ceramic dolls and toothbrushes, among other things, revealing a look at life in 19th century San Francisco.

To celebrate the findings, the Authority is displaying the collection of artifacts in a Transbay Archaeology Exhibit in the lobby of the 201 Mission Street headquarters. Stop by the exhibit, and check out a few photos in our slideshow below, courtesy of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority.

Comments

[brux]

12:31 AM on 12/12/2011

So interesting that the daily implements of life had a lot more character back then than the cheap plastic Chinese made crap of today. Somewhere our culture took a really wrong turn.

[melon83]

04:35 PM on 12/09/2011

I used to work right next door to this site and watched them tear down the old one. This is not the only items they have found there. Earlier this year they found some children shoes and more bottles. It is pretty common to find things in this area once a site has been excavated since it is where the SF water front used to be.

[marianproletarian]

06:38 PM on 12/08/2011

Here in NorCal we regularly find this kind of stuff while routing around in our gardens.

[Eyeful]

04:48 PM on 12/08/2011

Looks like most of it is opium paraphernalia.

[DSOKM]

12:06 PM on 12/08/2011

Why would anyone want the new Transbay Terminal to be like a post office in New York City? I would rather it be known as the Grand Central Terminal of the West...

[skyslimit]

01:15 AM on 12/08/2011

A museum inside the new Transbay Terminal sounds like a great idea!

[Jayjaybe]

12:44 AM on 12/08/2011

Yep, history notes that the folks who actually got rich from the California Gold Rush were mostly the merchants. Very few miners broke even.

[okim5150]

10:12 AM on 12/08/2011

Land in the gold country ended up mostly in the hands of the merchants. When the miners' luck, hope and credit ran out, they deeded whatever they had to the local store owner to settle their bills and left town broke.

[Forester]

11:05 PM on 12/07/2011

I live here and love this stuff, but it also makes me laugh when I think of what they routinely unearth during construction projects in Italy or Israel.

[FogBelter]

10:17 PM on 12/07/2011

They find some amazing stuff when they dig in that part of town. It was close to the original bay front, before it was filled in. As a kid it seemed every time they were laying the foundation for a new highrise downtown they would run into the remains of an abandoned gold rush era ship. The story goes that when the Gold Rush happened in 1849, fortune seekers came from all over to make it rich, Lots of ships captains, struck with Gold Fever, would just abandon their ships and head for the Gold Fields. Many of these abandoned ships would become boarding houses, casinos, brothels. Some would burn and be buried where they sat in the bay. I'm sure there are lots of hidden archeological treasures from the Gold Rush era still waiting to be found.

[brux]

12:34 AM on 12/12/2011

That's interesting, thanks.

[hartdoug23]

08:43 PM on 12/07/2011

Cool stuff.