For artist + archaeologist Patrick Donley, the adage, “One person’s trash is another’s treasure” isn’t just a saying, it’s become an avocation.
For the last five years, Donley has been digging through a pile of rubbish buried under a house in the Germantown neighborhood, gleaning bits of history all along the way.
Called the Mary Street Midden Project, Donley plans to turn the building into a museum, once he’s done digging.
Donley purchased the property on Mary Street — located one door down from Phalcha Coffee — in 1995, to house his art studio. He had no idea at the time, however, the treasure trove of artifacts that lay just a few feet below his feet.
Here’s sampling of what Donley has found, buried in the dirt:
- Ceramic plates
- Silverware
- Over 1,000 glass bottles
- Handguns
- Children’s toys, including hundreds of porcelain dolls
Donley estimates that the midden — that’s an old fashioned word for dump — was used for ~50 years, from the 1870s through the early 1920s. Back in those days, the Germantown neighborhood was located on the outskirts of Louisville.
He hasn’t done it all alone, though. Donley had the helping hands — or paws? — of a groundhog named Phyllis who helped to literally uncovered the past. It was Phyllis, in fact, who got the whole project started by kicking up artifacts buried under the basement slab, right as Donley was considering selling the place.
Donley will speak about the project at the Louisville Free Public Library’s Main Branch on Monday, Nov. 4, from 7 to 8 p.m. Register ahead of time to get a seat for the free talk.
If you’d like to support the Mary Street Midden Project, you can donate to Groundhog Archaeology — Donley’s company, named in honor of Phyllis — or at this GoFundMe page.
