Moorefields Archaeology Project

In the fall of 2022 Moorefields was awarded a sub-grant from the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, funded by the Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Parks Service, Department of the Interior, to do archaeological survey work on the Moorefields site.  The purpose of this grant program is to assist historic properties and archaeological sites with survey projects and resiliency planning to better understand and protect the state’s cultural resources during storms and other natural disasters.  Moorefields qualified for the grant as a property listed on National Register of Historic Places.

 We are using our grant to do an initial archaeological survey.  We expect this preliminary effort to provide some information about where and how people lived who were enslaved by the Moores, and perhaps even uncover clues about those who lived here before the Moores arrived. This information will help inform our next steps into research about who these people were and what their lives were like.  We are committed to learning and sharing more about the history of all who have lived on this land.

 Moorefields contracted with Richard Grubb & Associates to do the project’s archaeology work during the summer of 2023, overseen by Paul Noe, an archaeologist himself, and our grant administrator for the project.  Areas of the property were first surveyed using ground penetrating radar, and then test excavations were done in several places. We hosted a public Archaeology Day at the end of September, inviting people to see the progress and speak with archaeologists working on the project.  

 We have learned more about the graveyard on the property and gathered information from several other areas on the grounds, but one of the most interesting finds was the foundation of a building which was probably a kitchen, most likely with living quarters attached.  We will receive a written report from RGA in 2024 which will help guide our next steps on this important endeavor to learn more about all of the history of Moorefields.