Jeff Durst, regional archeologist for the Texas Historical Commission, will present a program on excavations at the site of San Felipe de Austin began in June of 2014 as part of the annual Texas Archeological Society Field School and continued on in the 2015 and 2016 TAS Field Schools.  The excavations which took place at the Texas Historical Commission’s San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site, focused on the historic “town lot” 566 where the Farmer’s Hotel was reportedly constructed between 1829 and1830. While still under construction the building served as the town hall described by San Felipe resident Noah Smithwick in his memoirs.  The structure was described as being 32 feet square with a brick cellar 6 feet deep. The first season focused on attempting to locate the four corners of the brick cellar and getting an idea of the construction method of the brick outer wall of the cellar.  The second season continued the attempt to define the four corners of the cellar and also included a centrally located unit aimed at identifying the floor of the cellar. A third session was held in November of 2015 in order to take at least a few of the previously open units all the way to the floor of the basement.  Returning in 2016, excavations focused on two other features known to have been located on this same lot. The four seasons produced an interesting array of artifacts and features which will be discussed during this presentation.

Free.  Time TBD.