This fall, we were lucky to have intern, Jessica Hammond, join us for a special project for one of our sites, Fort Laurens. We hope you enjoy hearing about her project!
Fall 2024 Archaeology Intern, Jessica Hammond
This autumn, I journeyed into the world of archaeological collections through an internship with the Ohio History Connection. From venturing into the labyrinth of countless excavations to parsing the notes left behind by past excavators, this experience has been both enlightening and enjoyable.
To help commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States as an independent nation, I have been digitizing the files left behind by the excavators of Fort Laurens, Ohio’s only Revolutionary War fort. Headed by R. Michael Gramly, excavations began in 1972; during the initial excavation, it was discovered that the presumed location of the fort was incorrect, and the Fort Laurens Museum had been built extremely close to the actual site. The story of the fort began to be told through Gramly’s excavations, which uncovered a variety of artifacts left behind by American soldiers of the Revolutionary War.
In early December of 1778, with the cold infiltrating the fort’s walls and settling in the bones of American soldiers, construction of Fort Laurens was completed.
1972-1973 Excavations at Fort Laurens
A series of unfortunate events then began to transpire; the most notable of these events occurred in February of 1779, when the fort was cleverly ambushed by a few members of the opposing indigenous population. The soldiers there were terrified, believing that the enemy numbered in the hundreds, so they stayed inside the fort while their food stores diminished. In March, several of the fort’s soldiers, excited by the arrival of much-needed supplies, fired their muskets into the air. This scared the pack animals, and the supplies were scattered everywhere, with many of them likely being lost for good.
After these events, the fort was abandoned in August of 1779, existing thereafter only as a distant memory from the midst of the Revolutionary War.
Today, as the nation nears its 250th birthday, Fort Laurens is slated to be a central part of Ohio’s contribution to the America250 initiative.
To work with the Ohio History Connection on such an important project concerning our history as a state has been an immense pleasure of mine over the course of the past few months. I’m excited to see Fort Laurens recognized as a notable piece of Ohio’s history.
