Archaeological Investigations Within the Proposed Argosy Lawrenceburg Casino Expansion Project Area in Dearborn County, Indiana

Summary

Between December 2006, and March 2007, Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc., personnel conducted a phase III mitigation of Sites 12D508, 12D520, and 12D585, located in the historic Germantown neighborhood of Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County, Indiana. The mitigation was conducted at the requests of Randee Bach, Vice President of Design and Contract Administration of the Argosy Gaming Company and Michael McGrew, Vice President of Construction of the Penn National Gaming Company, Inc. Three historic sites were investigated within the area of planned new parking facilities and roadway alterations for the Argosy Casino expansion project. The phase III investigation consisted of at least a 15 percent sample of each site employing both hand excavation and machine sampling. Past and current investigations within the neighborhood have indicated that the historical archaeological sites contribute a wealth of knowledge. Many sites contained intact and stratified deposits, which were studied through the use of hand-excavated test units. The yard areas in other sites had been highly disturbed or had already been sufficiently sampled, so these sites were studied specifically through the excavation of features, which consisted primarily of structural foundations and a multitude of privies. The excavation of the three sites here produced over 85,000 historic artifacts to study the lifeways of the residents throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The earliest sites were occupied in 1839, and many were occupied through the 1990s. The archaeology indicates that most of the residents adhered to a working-class lifestyle, while a few had some materials indicating that they had disposable income to purchase more refined goods. Familial ties within the community were demonstrated with residents moving and marrying frequently between sites, both as owners and residents, which is a product of the similar German heritage of many. These assessments found that the research potential had been exhausted for Sites 12D508, 12D520, and 12D585, and no further work was recommended for these locations. The impacts of the proposed construction has been mitigated.

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 1839 to 1990

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contributor(s): Jessica Allgood; Frederick Banschbach; Renee Bonzani; Flora Church; Michael J. Curran; Jennifer M. Faberson; Tanya A. Faberson; Jennifer M. Haney; Lisa. J Kelley; Jeffrey Mauck; Lori O'Connor

Notes

General Note: This submission was funded by the Food Connection Student Opportunity Grant from the University of Kentucky and was entered with the assistance of Ivaylo Ivanov, undergraduate student at the University of Kentucky.

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