Identity in the Archaeological Record: a Case Study at the Historic Astor House of Golden, Colorado

Summary

This is an abstract from the "City and Country in the American West:Post-1848 Historical Archaeologies of Denver and Los Angeles" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Astor House, a historic building in Golden, Colorado, opened in 1867 during a time when Golden was vying to become the capital of the future state of Colorado. Originally intended as a glamorous hotel, the building operated as such for 25 years before being sold for back taxes. It then changed hands and names several times until Ida Goetze, a German immigrant widow, purchased it and successfully transformed it into a boarding house. Goetze and her daughter-in-law Irene managed the boarding house until the 1950s. By the 1970s, local business owners sought to demolish the building, considering it a blight and envisioning the lot as a parking space. However, locals formed the Golden Landmarks Association to preserve the building, securing its place on the National Register and transforming it into a beloved local museum until its closure in 2015. Foothills Art Center later repurposed the space for its gallery and art campus, creating a community hub. Before this transition, the Astor House Community Archaeology Project conducted public excavations in 2021, uncovering artifacts including Civil War-era adornments and ironstone ceramics. This paper explores identity as reflected in these artifacts, particularly through the lens of the building’s history under Ida Goetze.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• City and Country in the American West:Post-1848 Historical Archaeologies of Denver and Los Angeles

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52978