Historic Sites

  1. Archaeological Investigation of the Galbraith Plantation, Lafayette County, Missouri. The Galbraith Plantation was a Little Dixie hemp plantation and farm that was occupied from 1829 to 2001. (A summary of this report can be found on MoDOT's webpage at: http://www.modot.org/ehp/sites/Galbraith.htm )

2. Archaeological Investigation of the Colonel Davenport House, Rock Island, Illinois. Excavation of the East Wing of the historic Colonel George Davenport house revealed evidence of the original home and trading post, circa 1818. 

3. Archaeological Investigation of the David McQuitty Homestead, Chesterfield, Missouri. One of the earliest Anglo-American settlers of the Chesterfield Bottoms, David McQuitty's homesite has long since disappeared, but traces of his life remain at the base of the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee.  Includes an excellent early history of the Chesterfield Bottoms in the vicinity of the St. Andrew's District. 

4. Archaeological Investigation of Fort Zumwalt, O'Fallon, Missouri.The family of Jacob Zumwalt arrived in Upper Louisiana (St. Charles District) around 1798 and built a cabin on a Spanish land grant in what is today O'Fallon, Missouri.  The cabin was used as a house-fort during the war of 1812 and in 1817 became the primary residence for the farm of Nathan, Rebekah and Darius Heald.  The Healds owned as many as 24 enlaved people on the farm and operated a cottage cloth industry until the Civil War.  Archaeological investigations have revealed information about the lives of the Zumwalts in the frontier period, as well as insight into the lives of the Heald family and their slaves and servants into the turn of the 20th century. 

5. Archaeological Investigation of Cochran Gardens Housing Complex, St. Louis City, Missouri.  Excavations recovered vast amounts of material from the cisterns and privies of mid to late 19th century immigrants living in the crowded tenements of downtown St. Louis. The archaeology revealed insights into diverse topics including the influence of Victorian ideals on poor immigrants in urban slums, the impact of mass production on consumption patterns, dietary and medicinal patterns, and the retention of cultural affiliations with the old world (i.e. Irish nationalism).

6. Archaeological Investigation of St. Ferdinand Church, Florissant, Missouri.  Excavations located and exposed the presbytery of the original St. Ferdinand Church.  This presbytery, constructed around 1789 to house the parish priest, was constructed in traditional French fashion with post-in-ground walls and a large central fireplace.  Artifacts indicate the strength of French identity in the early years of Florissant, and the eventual dominance of Anglo American society. Additionally, excavations demonstrated the presence of historic period Native Americans at the site, as well as intact portions of the St. Ferdinand Cemetery which had supposedly been removed in the late 19th century. 

7. The Squire Homestead. ARC performed phase I survey, phase II testing and the mitigation of the Squire Homestead site (11MS2244), located in the Six Mile Prairie area of Madison County, Illinois.  The site was the home of an influential, early 1800’s family.  Amos Squire came to the area from Maryland in 1808 and family members remained on the land until the late 1800’s.  The family’s cemetery is located northwest of the residence on a prehistoric mound associated with the Alexander Jacob site also investigated by ARC.  The yard area of the homestead was surrounded by a fence which enclosed the residence, a well and a smokehouse.  Material remains recovered included uniform elements and four bayonets dating to the War of 1812, gun parts, horse gear, farming equipment, fine ceramics, toys and Spanish coins. 

8. Excavation of the Becky Thatcher House (23MA1226) ARC conducted phase II testing and phase III excavations at the Becky Thatcher House located at 209-211 Hill St. in Hannibal, Missouri. This rental property had many occupants. The most famous, and only known residents of the home before 1859, were members of the Hawkins family. It was Laura Hawkins who made the family famous; the childhood friend of Samuel Clemens, she was the inspiration for Mark Twain’s “Becky Thatcher” character in the Tom Sawyer series.