11/19/2003: 
Urban Archaeology
What is Urban Archaeology?
Urban Archaeology is the study of the past in the area in which one lives. Our civilization is a living thing, and is constantly evolving. As part of it grows, another part is neglected, and eventually turned into something else. By visiting and documenting these ruins our ancestors left behind, we can create a vivid picture of the past and preserve it for the urban archaeologists of the future.
As a kid growing up in East Watertown, there was a railroad line 4 blocks from my house. It wasn't a busy line, but a train would come through at least once a week. When I asked my mother where the train went, she replied "All the way to California." I also heard legends in school about how bad kids hung out on the tracks. When I became a teenager, I took to walking the tracks myself and discovered that they went from Watertown Square to Fresh Pond. By the 1990s, the tracks were rarely used by trains, but the buildings were resplendent with graffiti. To me, the tracks were a secret free place where I could walk alone.
A couple of years ago, I stumbled upon a book called "Lost Cities of North and Central America" by "maverick archaelogist" David Hatcher Childress. In this and other volumes of his "Lost Cities" series, Childress has travelled the world looking for weird ruins and following up on legends that no "serious" archaeologist would go near. The chapter on New England mentioned a fable Viking settlement on the Charles River called Norumbega, so I began to do some poking around, and by golly, I found weird ruins. Looking for "lost cities" became my new hobby.
I began to see ruins of bygone eras everywhere I went. Instead of ignoring it, weird, overgrown land now beckoned to me. In the summer of 2002, I found a pond in East Watertown I had never noticed and spent a year researching it, which revealed a strange history of grandeur and neglect. For more information about my research on Sawin's Pond, click here. Researching about Sawin's Pond led me to discovering the true history of the railroad tracks of the Watertown Branch, and the fate of the MBTA "A Line" that used to run to Watertown.
Doing all this research about Watertown history has really broadened my mind. By learning about our past, we can hopefully create a better future. So next time you pass by that vacant lot on your way to the store, go over and check it out- you might be pleasantly surprised at what you might find!
