In 2003 Landmark Archaeology, Inc conducted Phase IA/IB archaeological investigations of a 36-acre campus expansion for The Culinary Institute of America, and subsequent Phase II site evaluation of a five-acre, mid-eighteenth to mid-twentieth century mill/agricultural historic district.  The site contains an extensive built environment which includes two house structures, a dam, a mill, a network of retaining walls, and several outbuildings/barns.  It was determined eligible for the National Register as a Historic District. Phase III data recovery was conducted in 2003 and 2004.

Historic records document site occupation by 1750 with a mill on the property as early as 1780. The property changed ownership numerous times throughout the 1800s and in the 1820s was part of the estate of James Roosevelt.  Photographs from the 1890s show a large Victorian-style home on the site with several outbuildings, barns, and at least one tenant house. The photos confirm the property as a lavish rural estate, common to the area as exemplified by the Roosevelt and Vanderbilt homes of Hyde Park.

Over 200 square meters were hand excavated across selected areas of the site.  Excavations unearthed several architectural features such as foundation walls, a well, a cistern, and numerous post molds, plus yielded over 40,000 artifacts. Three large block excavations exposed key site areas of different time periods and use.  Eighteenth century artifacts and a well were found in Block D where the original living surface was found preserved and littered with butchered faunal remains and household items. Block A excavations uncovered a cistern, cobble floor, two outbuilding foundations and hundreds of household and personal artifacts from the mid nineteenth century. Late nineteenth and early twentieth century materials were revealed in Block B where terrace walls and barn foundations were found. Archaeological data indicate historic occupation of the site dates from the 1750s to the mid twentieth century. 

Excavations also found several areas of the site where prehistoric deposits exist below historic materials.  Fieldwork recovered stone tools and flakes, lithic byproducts of tool making, and identified several fire hearths.  These artifacts date the prehistoric occupation to the Late Archaic period.

Landmark Archaeology, Inc. is a woman-owned, full-service resource management firm located in Altamont, New York specializing in archaeological surveys in the Northeast and Midwest.  With over 75 years of collective experience, no one in the industry has a better reputation or more keyed-in expertise for archaeological surveys. Our knowledgeable team uses state-of-the-art equipment needed for precise and trusted archaeological surveys. We strive to create strategies tailored to the individual characteristics of each archaeological survey project, ensuring that work is completed ethically and sustainably. 

Give us a call today for all of your archaeological survey needs.