A lost home in the birthplace of Texas: Unraveling the history of the McAdoo Plantation Home through archaeological, geographical, and historical investigations

Date

2013-08

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Abstract

In the mid-19th century, General John David McAdoo operated a plantation in Washington County, Texas. General McAdoo spent the early years of his professional and political life living on a plantation, and eventually became a successful lawyer and military figure. Notably, he was a General in the Texas State Troops and a member of the Texas Supreme Court. Today, little remains of the original plantation, and historical records are scarce. Archaeological excavations of the foundations of what may be the main plantation house during the 2012 Texas Tech Field School are providing information about the house's history and its relationship to the McAdoo Plantation. The investigations of 41WT69 resulted in an extensive collection of artifacts, spatial data and historic information. This thesis will use the archaeological, geographical, and historical data collected during the field school, to achieve three objectives. This first objective is to define the extant remains of the structure, and the second objective is to examine if the remains of the 41WT69 structure is the same structure depicted in visual and oral histories. The third objective is to determine if there is any connection between the structure and the McAdoo plantation. Through the comparison of the archaeological data and the historical records, the architecture and history of the 41WT69 structure and its connection to McAdoo plantation will be better understood.

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Keywords

Archaeology, Geographic information systems (GIS), Plantations, Texas, Freedom colonies, Washington County (Tex.)

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