Results of an Archaeological Survey of the Archibald Smith Plantation Home

In September and October of 1993 Southern Research conducted an initial survey and testing phase at the Archibald Smith Plantation Home in Roswell, Georgia. Archibald Smith was one of the founding Roswell families that moved from the Georgia coast with Roswell King, Sr. The site, established in 1844-1845, was occupied by the Smiths until the last family member died in 1981. The large, two-story, late federal period style house is the focal point of the site, but is surrounded by 13 nineteenth and twentieth century extant outbuildings, extensive landscaping, and a large rock spring house complex on a three-acre lot. Archibald Smith operated a 300 acre plantation during the mid-nineteenth century on nearby lands growing cotton, grasses and even rice. Twenty-two shovel tests and three test pits were excavated on the site. Two of the test pits were placed next to the detached kitchen where a buried brick rubble zone, a clay filled pit, and a large square posthole were uncovered that contained numerous nineteenth century artifacts. The rubble zone represented the remains of the detached kitchen that burned in 1864. Excavations of a third test pit were made in an open area south of the main house where shovel testing had indicated a buried nineteenth century midden. No structural features were found in this test pit, but the type and density of artifacts suggested that a nineteenth structure must have been located nearby. This work was sponsored by the Roswell Historical Society through the generous support of the Skinner Family.