The Eberhard privy: archaeological and historical insights into Santa Clara history

Authors

Samantha Harris
Jennifer Geddes
Kate Hahn
Diane Chonette
Russell Skowronek

Document Type

Book

Publication Date

1995

Publisher

Santa Clara, Calif. : Santa Clara University, Department of Anthropology and Sociology

Abstract

Broad open spaces, beautiful roses, and ancient trees today characterize the Santa Clara University campus and the surrounding tree shaded neighborhood. Along those quiet streets of the Old Quad many students and area residents go for walks in the City's relatively clean air. Beyond the sound of jets taking off from the nearby airport or the occasional wail of a siren Santa Clara is a tranquil place, seemingly unchanged for decades. Yet, this is a deceiving view as it is a community that has radically changed since the end of World War II. Over the past half century, Santa Clara changed from a center for tanning, canning, and lumber milling into the heart of Silicon Valley. Most of these earlier activities took place on what is today the campus of Santa Clara University. While largely destroyed by University building and urban renewal projects in the 1960s, the traces of this old Santa Clara still exist in photographs, memories, historic structures, and in the archaeological record.

This study focuses on the Jacob Eberhard family of 575 Grant Street and the late nineteenth and early twentieth century community in which they lived. As with most people the Eberhards did not leave written histories behind. Over the past century their home, their tannery, and a large part of their neighborhood has ceased to exist except in the memories of some of Santa Clara's older residents. Nonetheless, we can gain insights into their daily lives via archaeological evidence discovered in their long-buried privy.

Part of

Research Manuscript Series; 7

Comments

Permission to copy or publish any portion of SCU Archives materials must be given by Santa Clara University Library, Archives & Special Collections.

Recommended Citation

Harris, S., Geddes, J., Hahn, K., Chonette, D., Skowronek, R. K.(1995). The Eberhard privy: archaeological and historical insights into Santa Clara history. Santa Clara, Calif: Santa Clara University, Department of Anthropology and Sociology.