Sandy Hook Lighthouse Archaeological Field School Summer 2016, Gateway National Recreation Area, Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ, Monmouth University, REDACTED FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

Veit, Richard; Heinrich, Adam; McHugh, Sean; Norbut, Kristen

The following report presents the results of an archaeological field school conducted at the Sandy Hook Lighthouse in Gateway National Recreation Area (Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey). This investigation was performed at the request of the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. It was conducted under agreement with the National Park Service (Cooperative Agreement# P16AC00022 and Scientific Research Permit: GATE-2016-SCI-0020). The project focused on an approximately three-acre site around the Sandy Hook Lighthouse. The Sandy Hook Lighthouse is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. Information collected during this study will help meet the Park’s responsibility to inventory cultural resources under Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act and will aid in assessing impacts to identified resources under Section 106. The project was also designed to address public interests by involving students in a historic preservation program and motivating them to become involved in cultural resources protection and study in a real-world environment. Furthermore, the project served to increase public awareness, knowledge, and support for historic preservation and stewardship of the nation’s cultural and historical heritage through public outreach programs using both digital and print media, and volunteer opportunities. Testing revealed intact archaeological deposits relating to a lighthouse keeper’s dwelling, a 19th-century outbuilding, two brick paths, and a rich 19th-century midden deposit reflecting the historic occupation of the site. Based on the results of the 2016 field school and previous archaeological excavations at Sandy Hook Lighthouse it is evident that the site contains significant cultural features that provide new information about the historic occupation of Sandy Hook, most notably the location of the 19th-century lighthouse keeper’s houses, and the site’s role during the American Revolution.