Agenda 02-03-2026; 8-i - National Register Recommendation for Moorefields

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53 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service/National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB Control No.1024-0018 Moorefields (Additional Documentation) Orange County, N.C. Name of Property County and State Other artifacts included pottery sherds, or remnants of broken dishes, that dated from the late 18th century through the late 19th century. Archaeologists at Richard Grubb&Associates(RGA)continued Terrell's investigation of the area east of the house as well conducted exploratory investigations in cleared areas northwest and north of the house in 2023-2024. Using ground-penetrating radar(GPR),the team surveyed four distinct areas and identified 29 anomalies that could be archaeological resources, including "potential structures, an activity space, a roadway" and modern utilities.163 Strategically-placed STPs were laid for further investigation, and of the 1,111 artifacts this team uncovered, 1,098 dated from the 18th through the 21 st centuries. Several of the artifacts were building materials—brick fragments, window glass shards, and wrought and cut nails.With further study,this data could better elucidate where historic buildings (now gone) once stood on the property as well as their functions. This team also found three bivalve (oyster) shells, which provide narrow insight into possible diets of the occupants in a given period or the use of crushed oyster shells to create paths.164 Regardless, the quantity and diversity of artifacts uncovered in these two investigations suggest that the area closest to the house has the highest potential of revealing more information about the estate's historic occupants. Among the 1,111 artifacts uncovered during RGA's investigations, the sample included 13 pre- contact Native American artifacts—quartz and rhyolite debris—that "suggests the property was traversed during the pre-Contact period and stone tool manufacture and/or refurbishment activities took place"there.'65 This concentration of both historic and prehistoric material in the vicinity of the house "suggests the potential for additional intact deposits" if further archaeological investigation is undertaken at Moorefields at a future date.166 RGA archaeologists also conducted a GPR survey of the Cameron-Moore-Waddell Cemetery in 2023. Within the cemetery walls, GPR survey identified 22 anomalies interpreted as probable or possible burials, five of which were entirely unmarked. In addition to this, the archaeologists conducted a limited pedestrian survey of the vicinity immediately outside (to the south, west, and east) of the cemetery walls. They documented one metal, temporary grave marker approximately 10 feet east of the cemetery wall. The archaeologists also noted and mapped the presence of rough- cut quartz stones embedded in the ground leading east of the demarcated burial ground(i.e., lying outside of the cemetery's rubble walls). The quartz edging stones are aligned parallel with a width approximately 8 feet apart and extending approximately 65 feet to the east. The stone suggest the outline of a walking path, and the presence of this pathway suggests that the present rubble wall may not circumscribe the entire extent of the cemetery. The archaeologists also noted (but did not map) approximately 15 fieldstones outside of the cemetery bounds that could represent potential grave markers or could be naturally occurring. These fieldstones were encountered in an area covered with mature yucca plants and periwinkle. As the archaeologists reported,periwinkle is a historic groundcover found near burials and"yucca, in particular, is traditionally associated with African American cemeteries."16' Taken in combination, 1)the aligned quartz-edging stones denoting a pathway that extends quite a distance east of the present cemetery bounds, 2) the presence of the 15 fieldstones, 3) the presence of Section 8 page 51