Agenda - 10-02-1995 - IX-F - Laserfiche WebLink

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NPS F-xm 10.900-a OMB Approval No.1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior 14 National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 2 Alexander Hogan Plantation Orange County,NC Description (continued) measure at least 50 ft long and 25 ft wide; a chimney fall is located on its east end. The remains of the west wall could not be located, although a stone rubble pile (A2) was located just west of the missing wall. Whether it was directly associated with the main foundation or not remains to be determined. At least three stone piers are situated parallel to the south wall,presumably representing the porch support. The remaining foundations are all located to the north of the presumed main house. Foundations B and C are located relatively close to the house, while foundations E1 and E2 are some 500 ft away adjacent to the cemetery. The function of the structures associated with these foundations is less certain. Given foundation B's proximity to the main house and the presence of a chimney fall, it may represent a detached kitchen. Foundation C, which does not exhibit any chimney remains, probably represents a plantation outbuilding. Likewise, foundations E1 and E2 also lack chimney remains. Two possible interpretations are proposed for these remains. Given their identical size and symmetrical placement (and their location away from the main house) they could represent the remains of slave dwellings. But, they exhibit no chimney remains which would be expected for structures that served as dwellings. Their absence, however, might be due to the fact that slave cabins in the state were often made from stick and mud (Crow et al. 1992:56-57) rather than stone. Chimneys made from such perishable materials, of course, would leave little archaeological evidence. On the other hand, it is also possible that no chimneys ever existed and these remains belong to a single large outbuilding such as a barn or to two other smaller plantation structures. Substantial artifact remains appear associated with most of these structures. Despite the presence of heavy vegetation, ceramic, glass, and metal artifacts can be seen on the surface in and around the foundations. To better assess the potential for buried deposits each of the foundation remains were subjected to some judgementally placed auger tests. Significant soil deposits were revealed within every foundation excluding E1 and E2. For example, about 12 inches of fill was encountered within foundation Al, including 8 inches of ash and 4 inches of humus and burned clay. Furthermore, a similar soil and ash deposit was also present within foundation B. Because these foundations likely mark the areas of the most intensive site activity as well as the most concentrated deposits from these activities, the recovery of artifacts and features that would help interpret these former structures seems great. Further discussion of the significance of these remains is presented below. The only other known significant site feature is the cemetery that contains two distinct groups of graves. The first group is contained by a low stone wall, 45 by 35 ft in size that contains four identifiable graves marked by fieldstones. Judging from the layout of the headstones and footstones, three adult and one child grave are present. No other graves are readily discernible within the enclosure. The second group is located in two rows just outside the north wall of the enclosure and contains about 20 graves. These graves too are characterized by unmarked fieldstones. All graves have a characteristic east-west orientation and are covered by a blanket of periwinkle.