It takes a village: Utilizing a synthesis of old and new data to better understand the patterning of workers’ housing of iron furnaces in western Maryland.

Summary

The large labor force needed to operate an iron furnace in the late 18th and 19th century necessitated the workforce to live close to the industrial complex they operated.  Information drawn from the surviving structures at Catoctin Furnace, near Thurmont Maryland, along with primary sources such as oral histories, historic maps, company ledgers, and court documents, provides a comparative example for iron furnace villages in the area that are less well preserved.  Understanding the interconnectivity of commerce within the village structure through archaeological excavation, combined with LIDAR mapping and ground-truthing, can provide insight into the role of the furnace workforce as both consumers and producers in their built environment.   

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• From Pages to Pits: Using Texts and Archaeological Evidence to Examine Interconnected Trading Networks in the mid-Atlantic   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 1079