At Pocahontas Island City of Petersburg, Virginia
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF SIX SITES (44PG5, 44PG470, 44PG471, 44PG472, 44PG473, and 44PG474) AT POCAHONTAS ISLAND CITY OF PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA VOLUME I: RESULTS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL TESTING Prepared For: Department of Planning and Community Development City of Petersburg 135 N. Union Street Petersburg, Virginia 23803 Prepared By: Matthew Laird (Ph.D.) James River Institute for Archaeology, Inc. 223 McLaws Circle, Suite 1 Williamsburg, Virginia 23185 (757) 229-9485 September 2006 ABSTRACT Between December 2005 and April 2006, the James River Institute for Archaeology, Inc. (JRIA), conducted intensive archaeological testing of six sites within the Pocahontas Island Historic District. The objective of the testing, which focused primarily on properties owned by the City of Petersburg, was to evaluate the integrity and research potential of a representative sample of site types encompassing both the prehistoric- and historic-period occupations of Pocahontas Island. The resources examined included the archaeological components of the extant Jarratt House (44PG470) and “Underground Railroad House” (44PG471); the site of the former Richmond & Petersburg Railroad depot (44PG472); a domestic site spanning the eighteenth- through twentieth centuries in the vacant lot at 301 Rolfe Street (44PG473); the former site of the early twentieth- century Pocahontas Distilling Co. whiskey distillery at 343 Rolfe Street, which also included a nineteenth-/twentieth-century domestic component (44PG474); and one previously inventoried site (44PG5) with prehistoric Native-American and historic domestic components. In general, the investigated sites retained a high degree of physical integrity, and yielded significant concentrations of artifacts and evidence of intact cultural layers and features. Individually, the six sites retained sufficient integrity and research potential to be considered eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D.
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