Off the Public Walkways: Expanding Interpretations of a a Colonial Era Town and Civil War Fort at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site

DOCUMENT Citation Only Matthew Compton.

Recent analyses of animal remains recovered from Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson provide information about the animal use practices of the site’s colonial and Civil War occupants. Colonial materials indicate a pattern similar to animal use observed among eighteenth-century Charleston sites with a heavy reliance on domesticates, particularly cattle, supplemented by estuarine resources. This Charleston pattern has been described as "urban" to contrast it with patterns of animal use observed at...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Hannah P. Smith.

When dealing with the conservation of artifacts from archaeological contexts, one often focuses on a few special artifacts. This is often because there isn’t the time, money, or even simply enough artifacts to require looking at the larger conservation picture. Along Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site’s waterfront, a multitude of organic and inorganic artifacts, including ceramics, glass, wood, leather, and textiles, have been recovered. As a result, the conservation needs of whole...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Thomas E. Beaman. Jr..

Between 1958 and 1968, archaeological pioneer Stanley South excavated a total of 13 colonial era primary households and associated structures, as well as the courthouse, jail ("gaol"), and church.  While these excavations were designed to interpret these structures for public visitation, it was the tens of thousands of artifacts from these ruins that led South towards the development his pattern-based, scientific archaeology.  However, the artifact data from only three of these structures—Nath...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Alexandria D. Salisbury. Linda Stine.

In the southeastern portion of North Carolina, near the Cape Fear inlet, Fort Anderson was once a protecting force upheld by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War.  Previous excavations at a specific encampment inside of Fort Anderson provided artifacts that were once assigned to females' activities.  These artifacts have been deemed quixotic due to the gender restrictions of the fortress.  This presentation examines if and how researchers could tell whether males assumed female...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Vincent H. Melomo. Thomas E. Beaman. Jr..

Constructed in 1862 over the ruins of the Colonial port of Brunswick, Fort Anderson was part of the Confederate coastal defense network designed to protect Wilmington, North Carolina.  Early archaeological work in the 1950s documented the presence of Civil War-era chimney falls comprised of recycled colonial bricks and ballast stones in an undeveloped, wooded area of the public historic site.  Archaeological investigations undertaken within this area by the 2009 and 2011 William Peace University...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Hannah P. Smith. Thomas E. Beaman. Jr..

Excavations at colonial Brunswick and Civil War era Fort Anderson by Stanley South in the 1950s and 1960s were designed to make their shared footprint into a public historic park.  Historical data and the artifacts uncovered through his excavations formed the initial interpretations.  While this data was documented in field reports and select other venues, such as CHSA presentations in the 1960s and Method and Theory (1977), the publication of Archaeology at Colonial Brunswick (2010) largely...

DOCUMENT Citation Only John J. Mintz.

Public archaeology has been a long-standing practice at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site.  Began by pioneering archaeologist Stanley South in the 1950s, his style of public archaeology involved having on-going excavations visible to the public and timely disseminated results through local newsletters.  Yet in the half-century dearth of investigations since South departed the site, public archaeology was largely forgotten and all but disappeared.  However, recent efforts to more...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Jim McKee.

The preservation and exploration of William Dry’s wharf and the entire Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site waterfront would not be possible without the involvement of many different organizations and entities. What started as an archaeological project has evolved into one of the largest and most innovative shoreline stabilization projects in the nation. Archaeologists from the NC Department of Cultural Resources, United States Army Corps of Engineers, East Carolina University, Wake...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Stephanie M Byrd.

The waterfront area of Brunswick Town, a small but important transatlantic port on the Cape Fear River, was a major shipping and commercial center for southeastern North Carolina. The major export of tar, pitch, and turpentine to British controlled areas helped established this town for naval supplies. In his original investigations of Brunswick Town, Stanley South noted ballast stone piles in the river that might be evidence of up to five colonial wharves. At one of these locations, river front...