This project centered on archaeological salvage of the Stableyard Complex of the Hermann-Grima Historic House. The presented Stableyard Complex, located at 818 St. Louis Street, was a later addition to the subject property complex during the ownership of Judge Felix Grima (1850-1874) (Figure2). The historic record is unclear as to when Grima actually built the Stable. The property had been occupied by a series of small residences from 1722 until Grima bought the lot from Dr. George Dupuy in1850.The Hermann-Grima Historic House uses the Stable and Stableyard as a gift shop, gallery and staging area for tours. In 1983 it became necessary for the Stableyard to be rebuilt for drainage purposes and to enlarge the public restroom facilities in order to provide access for disabled visitors.The construction work was funded in part by a grant from the National Park Service, Department of theInterior and administered by the Division of Historic Preservation, Department of Culture, Recreation and tourism-Baton Rouge. The brick paved Stableyard was removed and prior to the filling and shaping of the new paving's base course a total of eleven excavation units were undertaken on the project. Four of the eleven units were in the rest room area, known as the Stable annex (a later addition(, as this was the area where the deepest and must extensive construction impacts were slated to occur. Six units were distributed over the brick paved Stableyard and the final unit was excavated under the "Bathroom"of the main Hermann-Grima House. This opportunity was presented during the course of fieldwork in1983, when it became necessary to remove a portion of the interior floor in the southeast corner of the house. Working between the floor joists, a unit was excavated through the charcoal level (required by the 1831 Hermann building contract) and into the subsurface materials. Underlying this room was an intact herringbone brick paving, the same one which Shenkel (1977) had encountered, which was disrupted by the foundations of the main house. To date this remains as the only unit excavated within the footprint of the main house.
Mochaware
Shell Edge Ceramics
The Stableyard units uncovered in situ brick piers, or fragments thereof, from one or more previous buildings on the site. Brick analysis of one of these piers indicated a construction date of ca.1780-1830. This would fir well with the historic record, as we know it, from the 818 St. Louis lot.Ceramics recovered from this part ofthe property agreed well with the sequences demonstrated by previous excavations. Following the completion of the archaeological testing a subsurface drainage system was installed and connected to the city storm drain. The Stableyard was filled and sloped in such a way as to pitch the rain water to the front (north) of the lot and into the storm drainage system. The rest room facilities for the disabled were completed in the annex area and the site was opened again for visitors