The Village Point Preserve site, located on public land in Daphne, provided some tantalizing clues to a little-known but fascinating part of Baldwin’s rich history.Īccording to Gums, “At or near Village Point in Daphne there was a settlement of five or six plantations, simply called ‘The Village’ on old maps of the 1760s to 1790s. Often we are asked to determine if there is something of archaeological value at a site, that might make it eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.” When federal and state permitting is involved, developers are required under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and Alabama Historical Commission guidelines to conduct a cultural resources study, if the proposed construction will impact archaeological sites.

According to Gums, “Many of our projects are what we call ‘cultural resource management’ work. Much of USA’s archaeological work in Baldwin is driven by development. Once we have excavated a site and analyzed the fragments found, we can almost always identify the time period and cultural context of the site.” What we really like to find are old garbage dumps and old wells filled in with ‘trash.’ Those provide rich insights. Said Gums, “Often the kinds of things we find on our excavations are pieces of pottery and glass, buried walls and fence lines, and pieces of clay pipes. We are beginning work at the new Bicentennial Park south of Stockton, and have already found the site of Joshua Kennedy’s second mill from the period of the War of 1812. Says Bonnie Gums, laboratory supervisor at USA’s Center for Archaeological Studies, “We have excavated a number of important sites in Baldwin County, including a prehistoric Indian village in Gulf Shores with amazingly beautiful pottery another Indian village on Plash Island on the Bon Secour River near Weeks Bay Blakeley State Park, where we found the 1820s town of Blakeley the Village Point Preserve in Daphne, where we found an old plantation site and the stoneware pottery kilns in Montrose, Daphne, Fairhope and on Fish River, where we documented over 30 different potters from the 1820s to World War II.

The Baldwin sites cover the whole length of the county, and a huge range of time. Raven Christopher sprays water on an excavation in Baldwin County

Plash island history