KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While crews worked along the Missouri River building the new Buck O’Neil Bridge, archaeologists uncovered pieces of Kansas City's past.
The Missouri Department of Transportation is required to have archaeologists on site when working in areas where early settlers may have lived.
The bridge’s project director said the archaeologists found one of the best discoveries he’s been a part of.
"This validates those processes for us. This really shows us that when we spend the time and the money to do archaeology, to remember and find the history that’s out there, this validates why we spend all the time and money to do that," said James Pflum, project director for MoDOT.
Andrew Gottsdield, cultural resources section manager at Burns and McDonnell, was with archaeologists as they mapped five sites.
The team executed a full excavation of two of the five sites, uncovering vastly different histories.
"It’s a really exciting time because you are finding stuff that hasn’t been touched by other people for, in this case, 120 years," Gottsfield said.
The first site the Burns and McDonnell team discovered was the location of an 1800s hotel.
Throughout their time at this site, they determined the hotel was likely for the working class.
At the second full excavation site, near the intersection of 3rd and Broadway, there was a different story to tell.
The location was the former home to several people who lived in homes built out of scraps. The residents were primarily poor, immigrant families.
"There was a whole shanty community that lived down in the bottoms called 'The Patch,' and then there were a bunch of these shanties that were built along the bluffs," Gottsfield said.
The site uncovered the home of a man named William H. Tinder.
Gottsfield and his team found Tinder's identity through an old newspaper article in the Kansas City Post.
Tinder made headlines for his fight against the city, which was looking to expand 3rd Street.
In the article, Tinder said he wouldn't leave his home of almost 20 years because it happened to be in the path of a new road. He claimed squatter rights, but the city did not see it the same way.
Gottsfield said research showed the city fined him $100 and burned his house down.
"This area was a marginal community on the edge of the red light district," Gottsfield said. "The edge of the shanty encampment. These were laborers. These were the people that actually built and constructed Kansas City during a boom time. We are giving a voice to these people."
Christa Wroblewski works as the cultural resources lab manager at Burns and McDonnell.
She showed KSHB 41's Abby Dodge other items the team found in and around the bridge construction site.
“It’s an incredible feeling to be able to hold a piece of history in your hand," she said.
Wroblewski showed off an ink well, part of a denture, medicine bottles, jugs meant to store alcohol and various types of decorative dishes.
She said these items are indicative of the everyday lives of working and lower-class Americans more than 100 years ago.
The team delights in sharing pieces of history that are rarely on display.
"That’s kind of the payoff for this whole job," Gottsfield said. "It gives voice to people that have been forgotten by history."
All of the artifacts the team found will make their way to a curation facility in Jefferson City.
Additionally, a plaque will be created to mark the former home of William H. Tinder near 3rd and Broadway.
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KSHB 41 reporter Abby Dodge covers consumer issues, personal budgeting and everyday spending. Share your story idea with Abby.