Archival Research

Archaeologists Nan Rothschild of Barnard College and Diana Wall of City College and their students have been working with Cynthia Copeland of the New-York Historical Society in studying Seneca Village. Together, they have scoured historical archives, searching for documents relating to the history of the Village. To date they have consulted maps of the Village as well as tax, census, and conveyance records (in order the find out more about the people who lived in the Village) and City death records (in an effort to ascertain the identities of those who were buried in the Village's cemeteries).

The archaeologists have made a series of maps that superimpose the features and structures of the Village taken from a mid-19th century surveyor's map over those of the modern Park. The features of the modern Park include both those that are visible, such as pathways and playgrounds, and those that are buried, such as soil types and utility lines. They have also linked certain structures with particular households, their ethnic composition and dates of construction.