In the Name of Development: Defense, Memory, and Land Use Surrounding Fort Lernoult in Nineteenth-Century Detroit, Michigan

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

This paper will explore both the historical texts associated with Fort Lernoult in Detroit, Michigan, revealing how the interpretation of a site can changes through time and among perspectives, as well as analyzing the accuracy of the piles by examining the presence and location of tree nails recovered during the excavation. The remains of Fort Lernoult, also known as Fort Detroit and Fort Shelby, were excavated in the early 1960s as a salvage operation during a high-rise construction project in Downtown Detroit. By Spring 1963, the remaining soil was removed using heavy equipment and deposited at nearby Fort Wayne into piles associated with stratigraphic information, where archaeologists continued to sift through the artifacts. Built by the British garrison during the American Revolution, the fort survived the great fire of 1805, and was surrendered during the War of 1812, before being transferred to the city in 1826 and subsequently dismantled.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2023 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow