Correcting History: 18th Century Elliot Plantation, African -Built Landscapes, Volunteers and Partners in the National Park Service

Margo Schwadron

Correcting History: 18th Century Elliot Plantation, African -Built Landscapes, Volunteers and Partners in the National Park Service

Year: 2016

Summary

The National Park Service plays a vital role in educating the public about stewardship and preservation of archeological resources, and vice versa. In 2008, a group of volunteers engaged the NPS to re-evaluate an historic site located in Canaveral National Seashore and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Working with volunteers, we determined that the site is actually Elliot Plantation—a previously undocumented, but the largest and southernmost 18th century British Period sugar plantation in the United States. This significant site contains the ruins of a sugar works factory, rum distillery, slave village, overseer’s house, and miles of slave-built canals; and is one of the most significant and well preserved African-American landscapes in North America. Interagency partnerships, education, and an active volunteer archeology program engaging locals, youth and elders helped to accurately investigate, document and interpret the site to recognize its important history, and to ultimately prepare an NHL nomination.

Cite this Record

Correcting History: 18th Century Elliot Plantation, African -Built Landscapes, Volunteers and Partners in the National Park Service. Margo Schwadron. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434596)