CORRESPONDENCE - 75A SEXLINGER FARMHOUSE

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Case S. Documents and Lack of Land Disturbance of a Historical Archeological Site in an Urban Setting: An eighteenth - century house in a Colonial -era town has been nominated. The townhouse is located on a deep lot maintained as lawn and gardens. Historical research confirms that the current property lines were established in the original plat of the block in the 1700s and that substantial construction has never occurred. Archeological investigation of other houses in the urban area has revealed the presence of associated buried privies and trash deposits. Discussion: Historic documenta- tion of legal boundaries would be the most appropriate in this case where the documentation confirms that current property lines represent the historic property lines. In addition, the lack of interior block disturbance is documented, leading to an expecta- tion of buried feature remains such as privies. This expectation maybe confirmed by surface observation of site features and materials. Subsurface testing would not be necessary for boundary definition in this case. Modern legal boundaries should be used in concert with historic docu- mentation which confirms that the current legal boundaries are histori- cally the legal boundaries of the site. Case 6. Documents and Lack of Land Disturbance for a Multiple Property Nomination for Charcoal Iron Furnaces: Numerous charcoal iron furnace complexes and associ- ated communities have been identi- fied. All known examples of this class of property are included. Although predominantly subsurface in nature, a few aboveground resources are present. Archival research and intensive restoration of one of the furnace complexes have established a description of the types and functions of the resources represented, their time range, their physical characteris- tics, and the probable classes of important research data represented. Original plats for individual furnace complexes and communities as well as historic photographs are available. Limited archeological surveys have confirmed the presence of historically documented features at several of the furnace sites and associated commu- nities. Typically, the iron furnaces and associated communities have not been developed following their abandonment. Boundary Description: For each furnace complex and associated community, the boundary is defined by the historical limits of the resource as illustrated in historic plat maps and verified as undisturbed based on field inspection (See Figure 5.) Boundary Justification: Given that all members of this class of resources have been identified; that the original plat are available to establish bound- aries; that archival research, restora- tion, and limited archeological research have established the types and functions of the various resources represented; and that the furnace sites are located in a region of the State that has experienced little development, it is appropriate to use historic docu- ments (plats) to determine the bound- Dries of each property included in the nomination. Subsurface testing is not necessary for boundary justification, because enough is known about the site functions and features to accu- rately predict Iocations of activity loci and expected data classes. Limited surface reconnaissance on several properties and restoration of one furnace and auxiliary building have confirmed the presence of expected features, based on historic documen- tation. Visible signature features, such as furnace stack remnants, earthen ramps, slag dumps, ore pits, and building foundations in conjunc- tion with plats, historic photographs, and standing buildings have been useful in locating specific features, i.e., stacks are located near streams TYPICAL CHARCOAL IRON FURNACE LAYOUT (2025 ACRES) ` FURNACE STACK, BUILDING REMNANTS AND SOME EQUIPMENT REMAIN FESTORAGE SHEDS BRIDGE HOUSE FURNA BL STACK i ENGINE FOUNDRY ❑ HOUSE CAST SHED ❑ MANAGER'S WORKERS' Q HOUSE HOUSING O ❑ N COMPANY 0 El STORE & OFFICE ROAD Figure 5. (Case 6). This figure shows a typical charcoal iron furnace dating from the nineteenth century. As part of a multiple property nomination, the boundary of each complex was estimated based upon historical cartographic documentation and confirmed using limited field investigations. 55