Archeological Excavation at Site 33-Cu-314: a Mid-Nineteenth Century Structure On the Ohio and Erie Canal

The Midwest Archeological Center conducted archeological excavations in April, 1983, at archeological site 33-Cu-314, the "Locktender's House" (Historic Structure 125) in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area in northern Ohio. The structure is adjacent to Lock 38 on the Ohio and Erie Canal. These excavations accompanied National Park Service efforts to restore and adaptively use the structure. The structure dates to the mid-nineteenth century, and required extensive restoration. This included foundation repair and other actions which caused ground disturbance within and around the building. Excavations were focused within areas where ground disturbance was expected to occur. Excavation of approximately 70 sq m within and immediately adjacent to the structure resulted in recovery of large numbers of nineteenth-century artifacts, in addition to evidence for structural modifications and a variety of previously unrecorded architectural features. As a result of fieldwork and subsequent analyses of recovered data, considerable new information was developed which supplements the existing historic record for the structure.