Archaeology at The Krebs House (Old Spanish Fort), Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Summary

The LaPointe-Krebs House or "Old Spanish Fort" (archaeological site 22JA526) in Pascagoula, Mississippi, is evidently the oldest standing structure in that state. Archaeological test excavations in and adjacent to the house in 1979, 1992, and 1994, 1995, and 2010 have revealed a complex sequence of colonial-period occupation and building on that site. Apart from some sporadic prehistoric occupation during the Middle Woodland period about two millennia ago, the major occupation occurred between circa A.D. 1718 and 1940 when the ethnic-French LaPointe-Krebs families occupied the standing structure and other buildings no longer extant. A shell midden located along the southern shore of Krebs Lake, containing refuse from oyster harvesting and processing, provided building material for the French colonists, with shells burned for lime mortar, and the British colonists, who used the shells for tabby constrution. The LaPointe-Krebs House, consisting originally of just the central and eastern portions of the existing structure, was built around 1772 of tabby. About 1820, the house underwent extensive renovation, which included addition of a western room and an internal partition wall of bousillage (a French-style mud and Spanish Moss mixture), the construction of two double-fireplaces of brick, the pouring of a new shell concrete floor over most of the interior, and reworking of the roof. The next major renovations occurred in the 1870s, when a raised wooden floor was installed, new fireboxes were built in each room, and the doorways, windows, and roof were altered. Restoration efforts in 1940 led to removal of the raised wooden floor, which was replaced with a poured concrete floor. A more recent renovation in 1980 reintroduced a raised wooden floor set on concrete piers. The LaPointe-Krebs House and surrounding property comprise an extraordinarily interesting historic structure and archaeological site. A thorough, systematic survey of the park indicated the nature and locations of other historic structures and features surrounding the LaPointe-Krebs House.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• La Pointe-Krebs House (22JA526), Pascagoula Mississippi

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 1772 to 1940

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Gregory Waselkov; Diane Silvia; University of South Alabama Center for Archaeological Studies

Record Identifiers

1994.009(s): Accession Number

1995.013(s): Accession Number

2010.004(s): Accession Number

File Information