Getting By on East Fork of Indian Creek: Archaeology of Early Twentieth City Life in Eastern Kentucky

Summary

This paper presents recent excavations at two domestic sites in Menifee County, Kentucky.  Information on site structure and material culture were obtained from the excavations, and combined with data from documentary and oral history sources.   The area, now fairly remote due to its position with the Daniel Boone National Forest, was once well connected as the end of the line of a logging railroad, and a community nucleus with a school, possibly a commissary type store, and railroad-based mail delivery.  Once the logging companies withdrew following the harvesting of the best timber, connections diminished and economic opportunities for the residents were greatly reduced.  The families occupying these domestic sites illustrate strategies described by one resident as "just getting by" and family histories illustrate common push and pull factors that contributed to the high out-migration of Eastern Kentuckians into factory jobs in Ohio.      

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions) 2017   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 643