The Ridge Avenue site

This site was proposed by Hayes Eschenmann in 1987 and was located at the crest of a hill a little over .3 of a mile south of the town center.

Eschenmann believed this to be the site of the fort because there was not a gun in the NE bastion.

This location is not viable because it places the town between the fort and the dangers from the west. Also, this location is 1900 feet from the town center which would not have been easily accessible by settlers fleeing to the fort.

A geophysical survey of a wooded tract of land at the intersection of Ridge and Walnut Streets on the south side of Shippensburg, Pa was conducted by Tethys consultants on December 19, 1990 and January 3, 1991. Tethys used a GEONICS EM-38 electromagnetic induction meter to survey the land. TCI detected no evidence of the remains of Fort Morris on the subject site.

The King Street Site (Bull’s Eye)

The King Street location is located at the western end of Shippensburg on a prominent hill known as the Bull’s Eye by the residents.

What factors eliminate this land as the site of Fort Morris? The first factor is this location is not conducive to the protection of settlers because it is nearly one mile from the original town center and in the 1750’s it would have been separated from the town by a large, swampy field along Middle Spring Creek. Another factor is that Edward Shippen did not purchase the 109 acre tract of land until 1762 and had the land surveyed October 16, 1762 which is seven years after Fort Morris was built to protect the colonists. The other factor is that on March 23, 1763 Edward Shippen wrote a letter concerning the standing timber located around the Bull’s Eye, which would have been cut if Fort Morris would have been located there.

Burd Street

This is the only location that matches all of the documentation regarding Fort Morris.

This location is on a small hill just over .1 miles west of the old town center.

Of the three disputed locations, this location is the closest to the old town center and is between the town and the dangers to the west.

“A 12 –pound cannonball, flintlocks, brass buttons, and similar evidence of soldier’s accouterments as well as buried logs have been found in the Burd Street Area.” No other evidence of an old fort has been found anywhere in Shippensburg.

“Thomas Barton wrote in his Journal, “At a little distance from the center of town is Fort Morris.” The Center of Shippensburg at that time was the intersection of King and Queen Streets. The Burd Street site is 800 feet from King & Queen Streets.”

“On the Northeast corner of the lot at 333 E. Burd Street, is a well, 6 feet in diameter and lined with stones to the bottom. An archaeologist from the William Penn Museum looked at the site and identified it as an old well.”

David Ferry-owner of 333 East Burd Street

Preparing the Street

To prepare the site, three, 14 foot trenches were laid out in the northwest quadrant of the lot. After the trenches were excavated, twenty-six shovel test holes were dug on the west-side of the property. The shovel test holes were two feet in diameter and spaced six feet apart in a random pattern to promote detection of artifacts.

Trench 1 contained artifacts such as, window glass, brick, red earthenwares , hard white earthenwares, clothing, jewelry, household items, and recreational items. Three of the most important unearthed artifacts were a plain creamware shard, pearlware shards, and 19th century white earthenware shards. Pearlware is a ceramic type manufactured in England between 1790 and 1840. (Warfel, 2008).

Trench 2 contained 1,102 artifacts; many of which were similar to those found in Trench 1. A few important artifacts were a plain brass button with a convex crown, kaolin tobacco pipe bowl fragment, a kaolin tobacco pipe stem (commonly used during colonial times), Blue salt-glazed stonewares, and plain white salt-glazed stonewares.
Trench 3 contained 324 artifacts such as a plain tombac button, white salt-glazed stoneware, pearlware, and kaolin tobacco pipe bowl fragment.

A total of 2,878 artifacts were recovered during the excavation. The artifacts recovered that were from the fort period are: 22 ceramic shards, two metal buttons, one kaolin tobacco pipe stem, three kaolin tobacco pipe bowl fragments, and a piece of lead buckshot.