In mining camps in the U.S. Southwest in the late nineteenth century dwellings were commonly constructed of frameless ("box") construction on post foundations.  When the mine ceased producing, these were quickly and easily disassembled and moved to the next supposed strike. Because the posts were often also removed, the archaeological footprint of of such houses can be very difficult to determine. 


Morgan Rieder, RPA

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Boyer, Jeffrey, DCA<mailto:[log in to unmask]> 
  To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> 
  Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 9:58 AM
  Subject: Re: 19th cen. house moving


  Claire,
  New Mexico is a long way from New York, so for what it's worth . . . I did a project a number of years ago down in the southeastern part of NM where we were dealing with a homestead house from the early 20th century. We had a wonderful informant who had lived on a couple of homesteads as a child, and was the local historian too boot. Her father often built small wooden-frame houses for homesteaders, which could be -- and often were, apparently -- removed from the house site if the homestead was relinquished. Removal was easy enough: the houses were built as single units on large wooden joists that acted like skids or sled runners, so the house could be pulled away by teams of draft horses. According to our informant, this form of construction and removal was very common in eastern New Mexico and west Texas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; her father was not an innovator, just a good carpenter.
  The house we dug was not removed -- it burned in place, probably after abandonment. But, when the debris was finally cleared away (i.e., excavated), we could see the long indentations in the ground of the large floor joists.
  Jeff
   
  Jeffrey L. Boyer, RPA
  Project Director
  Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico
  mail: P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, New Mexico  87504
  physical: 407 Galisteo Street, Suite B-100, Santa Fe, New Mexico  87501
  tel: 505.827.6387          fax: 505.827.3904
  e-mail: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
  "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time."  --Terry Pratchett
   

  ________________________________

  From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY on behalf of Claire Horn
  Sent: Sat 9/1/2007 6:35 AM
  To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
  Subject: 19th cen. house moving



  Hi -

  I'm working on analysing front yard depositions of a site where the
  original house was built in the 1850s, then moved across town prior to
  construction of a 2nd, larger house around 1876.  Does anyone have an idea
  about how houses would have been moved around that time - i.e., taken
  apart piece by piece and reassembled, or moved whole?  We have a layer of
  very gravelly fill capping the original surface, and I'm wondering if the
  gravel could be related in any way to the house moving.  Not that we don't
  often find gravelly fill.

  Thanks!

  Claire Horn
  Public Archaeology Facility
  Binghamton, NY

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