Nationwide context and evaluation methodology for farmstead and ranch historic sites and historic archaeological sites on DoD property

The Army is tasked with managing the cultural resources on its lands. For installations that contain large numbers of historic farmsteads, meeting these requirements through traditional archaeological approaches entails large investments of personnel, time and organization capital. Through two previous projects, Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) cultural resource management personnel developed a methodology for efficiently identifying the best examples of historic farmstead sites, and also those sites that are least likely to be deemed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. This report details testing the applicability of the methodology to regions across the country. Regional historic contexts were created to assist in the determination of “typical” farmsteads. The Farmstead/Ranch Eligibility Evaluation Form created by ERDC-CERL researchers was revised to reflect the broader geographic scope and the inclusion of ranches as a property type. The form was then used to test 29 sites at five military installations. The results of the fieldwork show this approach is applicable nationwide, and it can be used to quickly identify basic information about historic farmstead sites that can expedite determinations of eligibility to the National Register.