I am enjoying this thread - only sorry that I can't come and contribute
my personal gripes: bricks as ballast and reused ships timbers in
houses.  Theoretical perspective - to what ends are these narratives
being use?  Does it matter that the guide at Chirck Castle told me this
weekend that what was clearly a removed partition was evidence that the
beam had been reused from a ship?  Do the odds change when we consider
the Mayflower Barn (allegedly the Mayflower ...)?

Anyway, to add to the building bibliography - I've enjoyed reading Jim
Loewen's _Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong_
(1999).

Best wishes to all,

Pat
(who is currently beguiled by the narrative that she can get up early,
do her emails, and paint the front door before going to work!)
--
Pat Reynolds
[log in to unmask]
   "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
   (T. Pratchett)