In neither the case of Saugus or the George Washington Birthplace was the NPS responsible for the reconstruct ions.  These were
completed prior to donation of the sites to the NPS.  In fact both sites were privately operated for a number of years before they were
donated.

One should keep in mind that the George Washington Birth Place Natl. Hist Site was not corporate America.  It was done by a group much
like the Mt Vernon Ladies' Assoc.  Where Mt Vernon has turned out very well, and I think we need to applaud such efforts, Pope's Creek
Farm did not.  But the NPS should be patted on the back for realizing that they had been given something of questionable authenticity.
The NPS funded archaeology, found the original house, and are doing a good job interpreting the site.  NPS can't be held responsible
for what was done to a site prior to its designation as a park.

While as far as authenticity is concerned, Saugus Ironworks is a bit of a farce.   It does allow one to visit a full scale replica of a
late 18C French ironworks right out of Diderot.   Also the archaeology, which is being published now, would never have been done had it
not been for corporate America.  And in all probability the site would have been swallowed up by (and lost to) residential development.

I have a site I would love to work on here in Chesterfield County, VA.  Falling Creek Ironworks was the first in the US (1620-22).  At
this point the site is somewhat protected, it has been donated to the county and is a park.  Also on the site was a mill that operated
from the late 17C and Cary's Forge 1750-81.  Frankly I would love for some nice corporation to step forward and decide they wanted to
fund some excavation.  There are a number of things we do not know about the site, that can only be answered through excavation.  We
did a geophysical survey in 1999, but that is as far as we can go without moving dirt.

How much "reconstruction" happens, and its quality, depends on a number of factors.  Not the least of which is involvement by
knowledgeable professionals.  The original plan for Falling Creek was something akin to Saugus South.  That is a complete
reconstruction on the original foundations.  Due to the active involvement of a number of people, including Lyle Browning and myself,
it has been decided that if any reconstruction/recreation is done it will be off site.  It has been proposed that something akin to the
"ghost" structures used by Parks Canada at the Forges du Saint-Maurice might be appropriate.

JH Brothers IV, RPA

David Babson wrote:

> Wonder how much more of this sort of "reconstruction" we will get (with corporate logos discretely included) once NPS is privatized?
>
> D. Babson