Camp Lawton:  Life and Death of a Civil War Prison

Summary

In 2010 Georgia Southern University began a long term project to investigate and interpret Camp Lawton Prison near Millen, Georgia.  This prison had a short lifespan, only six weeks to construct and six weeks of occupation and yet it has proven to have one of the most intact prisoner occupation areas of any Civil War prison in the United States.  Results of work so far have demonstrated the efficacy of metal detection use in the prisoner occupation area, developed a conservation strategy for iron artifacts recovered from the site and located a portion of the stockade wall.  The project also has a substantial public component that includes public field days, social media and educational outreach.  One of the hallmarks of this research has been the partnership that has developed between Georgia Southern University, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the community of Millen. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013   •
• Poster Session 2

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 575