BRATTLEBORO — Archeology along the recently restored floodplain on Birge Street helps illustrate the rich industrial history of Brattleboro.

"This research conducted has proven to be a valuable dataset that contributes, in many ways, to shaping the historical narrative of mill workers in Vermont," said Danielle Duguid, project manager and principal investigator with Hartgen Archeological Associates. "Most importantly, it's added direct ties to the families who toiled and prospered living in the lumber yard of the Holden & Martin sawmill."

In a virtual event Thursday, Duguid presented information about her group's discoveries. Hartgen was hired for archeological work of the floodplain restoration project now known as Kikitta Ahki, with funding from the town, Vermont River Conservancy and Vermont Emergency Management. The Brattleboro Historical Society provided information.

Duguid said the archeological site was initially identified during test excavations in 2018 during archeological permitting for the floodplain restoration project.

"The plans for the larger project involve removing many feet of modern and historic fill across the 12 acres of the floodplain to allow natural flooding of the area and prevent catastrophic flooding from overflowing into the rest of downtown Brattleboro, which had occurred in 2011 following Hurricane Irene," she said. "Large scale archeological excavations and research are conducted to preserve as much of the information as possible before the site gets destroyed by the planned development or construction. The information and knowledge that's gained from this effort is then gathered into a large report, discussed with community and given to museums to preserve the history for future generations."

Duguid said indigenous peoples began to set up permanent settlements and built villages in the study area. Her group found a few small fragments of stone tools they used.

Brooks traveling the Connecticut River "provided ease of transportation and more importantly hydropower for the 18th and 19th century settlers along the Whetstone Brook," Duguid said.

"Dozens of saw mills, woolen factories, tanneries and other water powered industries began to pop up during the 18th and 19th century," she said. "Subsequent mill operations ran adjacent to the study area from the 1830s to the 1960s as well as in many more other locations."

John Birge, who the street was named for, constructed a woolen mill in 1838. It changed hands over the years.

In the 19th century, David and Catherine Leahy bought 8 acres of the meadow right next to a mill to build their home. The Irish immigrant couple ended up splitting up, and their land and house were sold to the up-and-coming Holden & Martin Milling Company in 1904. The home housed families employed at the mill.

"With a reputation of investing in their employees," Duguid said of Holden & Martin, "they applauded themselves on providing reasonable priced worker housing throughout Brattleboro, utilizing a rent-to-own model for any of their housing and never defaulting on a loan."

Duguid counted a total of 5,968 architectural artifacts found by her group during excavations. They included wooden beams, slate shingles, window glass, nails, hardware and bricks. These materials "vastly outnumbered the domestic and personal assemblages," Duguid said.

A total of 4,300 nails were catalogued. They're "actually particularly useful for historic archeologists as the shapes and sizes are diagnostic," Duguid said.

Slate discovered by her group was "definitely local to the area," Duguid said. They made the determination based off its color.

"Faunal remains were found throughout the site as well, helping archeologists understand what the families at the Leahy home were consuming," she said. "Through looking at the bones, researchers can determine the species and also examine cut marks and butcher marks for information about how animals were processed."

Duguid said bones from cattle, pig, sheep, goat and horse bones were identified in the approximately 300 final remains analyzed.

Personal items discovered included tobacco pipe stems, leather shoes, children's toys, burnt vinyl records and a rosary. Duguid suggested the large number of toys at the site may indicate they were used to distract families from the dangers of the nearby mill.

https://www.reformer.com/local-news/brattleboro-archeology-project-ad ds-to-historical-narrative-of-mill-workers/article_77f635b9-7b4b-4706-b9 85-66a79d767c62.html