Reconstructing “Negro Fort”: A Geophysical Investigation of the Citadel at Prospect Bluff (8FR64)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Seeking Freedom in the Borderlands: Archaeological Perspectives on Maroon Societies in Florida" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In 1814, the British began construction of a large fort on a site known as Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola River. There they trained a corps of Colonial Marines made up primarily of freedom seekers and maroons of African descent who fought in the War of 1812. The heart of the fort was a massive eight-sided block house, surrounded by a moat and earthworks. Post-war, the British left the Fort in the control of the maroon community that had built up around it. One of the largest free Black communities in North America at the time, Prospect Bluff became a haven for freedom seekers until its destruction in 1816 by the US military. Using historical documentation, mid-twentieth-century excavations, and ongoing geophysical survey, the architectural features of the fortifications of this National Historic Landmark are beginning to be virtually reconstructed, and new features related to the maroon occupation are being revealed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Seeking Freedom in the Borderlands: Archaeological Perspectives on Maroon Societies in Florida   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35811.0