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| 1832, ‘Trace of the Shenandoah River East and West of the Massanutten Mountain” (J. Herron) |
Applications due May 23 to Carole Nash.
Satisfy historic excavation requirements in lovely Page County at the 2014 White House Farm field school from June 9-14. The White House, located along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River five miles west of Luray, is one of the Shenandoah Valley’s most recognized landmarks. Constructed around 1760 by Mennonite minister Martin Kauffman as a dwelling and meeting house, the Rhenish stone structure dates to the era of the original Massanutten Settlement and was part of the Hamburg community. The two-story house includes a vaulted cellar, common in the stone houses of the Page Valley and believed by earlier historians to be a defensive feature associated with settlers’ forts of the French and Indian War era. More recent research indicates that these features were functional spaces and Germanic architectural markers.
The house was occupied into the 1830s, after which time it was used intermittently by farm workers. Very little has been done to alter its interior since Federal-era woodwork was installed. Listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1977, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 under Criterion C (‘embodies distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction’). The Certification Field School in 2012 was the first attempt at investigating the archaeological resources of the property. Today, the White House is central to the White House Farm Foundation (http://whfarmfoundation.org/), a non-profit educational organization that maintains the 270-acre farm “to enrich individuals with knowledge of and involvement with our natural ecological systems, sustainable agriculture, holistic community planning, and respect for local history and culture.”
The 2014 field school will continue the work started in 2012, including resuming excavations into 18th century features adjoining the standing house. We will also continue our testing around the house in search of an earlier log cabin and barn that were part of the complex. The field school, directed by Dr. Carole Nash (JMU), will run from Monday, June 9 - Saturday, June 24, 2014. The excavation of a series of 2.5’ x 2.5’ units and on-site laboratory work will provide students the opportunity to meet both excavation and laboratory requirements. The community focus of the White House Farm Foundation will also provide students the opportunity to work toward the public archaeology requirement.
For more information and an application, contact Carole Nash at nashcl@jmu.edu.
