The Excavations at Frost Town: Public Archaeology at a 19th Century Logging Settlement

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Cumming Nature Center of Naples, New York contains a significant portion of the remains of a 19th century logging settlement, once known as Frost Town. The site, home to many Euro-American settlers throughout the 19th century, saw the rapid rise of a logging-based economy associated with the growing industrialization of Western New York, following the construction of the Erie Canal. Frost Town subsequently saw the decline of this industry as environmental circumstances changed and the old-growth forests disappeared due to over-logging. This led to some failed attempts at farming, followed by the eventual abandonment of the site in the early 20th century. The Cumming Nature Center is part of the Rochester Museum and Science Center. In recent years, the center has increased its efforts to engage with the museum’s public via Family Archaeology Weekends and collaborations with the College at Brockport. This poster will showcase the work being done at Frost Town by undergraduate archaeology majors, local archaeology enthusiasts and area children during our outreach events. This poster and project will add to the continuing conversations on how best to responsibly integrate students and the public into archaeological excavations at Frost Town and beyond.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25630