Dig This: Juniata Students Help Find Colonial Fort
Juniata students and staff cooperated during the Fort Shirley dig with colleagues from Penn State University, Temple University and Axis Research, Inc.
of the time including buttons, buckles, musket balls and shot, trading beads, a corkscrew and perhaps a knife blade. It also uncovered an undergraduate research opportunity for Tim Carn ’12. Carn, of Middletown, Pa., compiled an oral history of the site and researched the geography of the area. “The whole experience was priceless in my eyes,” says Carn. “The project not only gave me an introduction to working in the field,
it sparked my interest in the field of geography. I also met dedicated professionals who demonstrated first-hand the value of the degree I am pursuing.” The project also provided opportunities for students Pat Harris ’12, of Export, Pa. and John Curry ’12, of Greenwich, Conn. and was inspired by a Juniata alumnus, George Drobnock ’71, a planning official with the borough of Huntingdon who has an interest in local history. “Huntingdon County has always been part of the big picture,” Drobnock said in a Huntingdon Daily News article. “American history didn’t start in 1776.”
Sifting stations enable the young archeologists to screen dirt and uncover wine bottles, arrowheads and other artifacts. 11
Winter ‘11 | Juniata College
Photo: Rebecca Berdar ’99/Huntingdon Daily News
Miss playing “fort,” by constructing a shelter out of boxes, blankets, kitchen chairs or even umbrellas? This summer, armed only with shovels, trowels, sifting screens and brushes, an army of researchers—some of them Juniata students and staff— found the remains of a former Huntingdon County fort dating back to 1749. The project focused on Fort Shirley, a colonial fort founded by George Croghan as a trading post and later turned into a fort during the French and Indian War. The archeological dig took place in southern Huntingdon County in Shirleysburg, Pa.—specifically in a horse pasture and adjacent backyard lawn of a local resident. The dig yielded not only evidence of a large palisade, which suggests the walls of the fort were more than 100 feet long, but also 15,000 separate artifacts
Photo: Rebecca Berdar ’99/Huntingdon Daily News
By Genna Welsh Kasun ’06