Spoonville Site

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Spoonville Site
Spoonville1.jpg
Old photo prior to the destruction of the mounds
USA Michigan location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationCrockery Creek and Grand River [1]
Nearest city Crockery Township, Michigan
Coordinates 43°2′40″N86°4′50″W / 43.04444°N 86.08056°W / 43.04444; -86.08056
Area4 acres (1.6 ha)
NRHP reference No. 73002158 [2]
Added to NRHPMarch 30, 1973

The Spoonville Site, also designated 20OT1, [3] is a historic archeological site, located on the banks of the Grand River in Crockery Township, Ottawa County, Michigan, United States. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. [2]

Contents

History

In 1856, John Spoon and his brother, Daniel, arrived in this location and constructed a sawmill. Eventually a small town, Spoonville, grew up around the site, and in 1871, was established as a station on the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad. Spoon discovered three mounds on his property. [4] One of these, reportedly 100 ft (30 m) long and 15 ft (4.6 m) high, was destroyed in the construction of the sawmill. [5]

Archaeology

The site, located on a terrace between Crockery Creek and the Grand River, [6] was the location of a large Middle Woodland period village and burial mound complex. [7]

The first archaeological investigation of the site was conducted by Able Anderson in 1857. Anderson excavated one of the mounds, reporting human remains and other artifacts. [8] In 1876, William D. Gunning carried out further excavation at the site. [4] More recent excavations were conducted in 1962, and excavation of the village at the site continued through the next few decades. [8]

References

  1. ↑ The Spoonville Site is listed by the NRIS as "Address Restricted." However, the Ottawa County Park System gives the general location (Marjorie Bethke Viveen, Historic River Road: A Self-Guided Auto Tour for all Seasons (PDF), Ottawa County Parks). Geo-coordinates are approximate.
  2. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. ↑ Mandi L. Yoes (1998), "Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis of Middle Woodland Ceramics: An Interim Report", GVSU McNair Scholars Journal, 2
  4. 1 2 Kevin Collier (July 22, 2015), "Remains of ancient civilization discovered at Crockery Creek", Grand Haven Tribune
  5. ↑ HISTORY OF OTTAWA COUNTRY, HR Page & co., 1882, pp. 18, 122
  6. ↑ William A. Lovis; Charles E. Cleland (2004), An Upper Great Lakes archaeological odyssey: essays in honor of Charles E. Cleland, Cranbrook Institute of Science, p. 19, ISBN   9780814331972
  7. ↑ United States Federal Highway Administration (2010), US-31 from I-196 in Allegan County North to I-96 in Muskegon County: Environmental Impact Statement, pp. 4–43
  8. 1 2 John Baldwin (1984), "Spoonville - Classic Michigan Hopewell" (PDF), Ohio Archaeologist, 34 (4): 32–39, hdl:1811/55871

Further reading

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