Introduction

The articles below are installments for a series of postings for Friends of Fort Halifax Park, Inc. on the archaeological investigations that have taken place at Fort Halifax Park since 2011. Most of this work was completed by the staff and students of the PennDOT Highway Archaeological Survey Team (PHAST), a student-staffed career development program developed jointly by PennDOT and Indiana University of Pa (IUP). Joe Baker ran this program from 2010 until his retirement in 2019. Amanda Rasmussen was the program field director in 2013 and 2014. Amanda’s master’s thesis site was Fort Halifax Park. We hope these short web postings provide everyone with a solid summary of the current state of archaeological work at the park, work that we hope continues in the future. Feel free to forward any questions you might have to Joe Baker ([email protected]) or Amanda Rasmussen ([email protected]).

Joe Baker (PennDOT Cultural Resources Management Program, Retired)
Amanda Rasmussen (USDA Forest Service), December 2019

Archaeology at Fort Halifax Series Article: Part I
Archaeology at Fort Halifax Series Article: Part II
​Archaeology at Fort Halifax Series Article: Part III

Archaeology Projects:
2026 Rediscovery Project:
Find more information regarding registration (required) for the May 17 through May 23 project here:  PAC/SPA Archaeological Training Program  
 
​2024 Rediscovery Project:
Friends of Fort Halifax Park, Inc. once again hosted a Juniata College Field School from June 5 to June 14, continuing the "rediscovery" of Fort Halifax.  Juniata College Cultural Resources Institute Director and lead archaeologist, Dr. Jonathan Burns, field school students, and others continued the work of locating and discovering evidence of the fort's footprint and inner buildings.  Students learned many archaeology skills that includes how to clean, catalog, and preserve important artifacts which will tell more of the story of Fort Halifax. 

​2023 Rediscovery Project:
Friends of Fort Halifax Park, Inc. was thrilled to once again be awarded two additional grants to continue the "rediscovery" of Fort Halifax in 2023.  Juniata College Cultural Resources Institute Director and lead archaeologist, Dr. Jonathan Burns, field school students, and others were able to continue the excavation of the site from June 4, 2023 to June 24, 2023.

2021 Rediscovery Project:
Friends of Fort Halifax Park, Inc. was awarded three grants toward funding for the Juniata College Cultural Resources Institute "2021 Fort Halifax Rediscovery Project" field school.
FoFHP, Inc. would like to to thank these three organizations, and everyone so far for their support of this important historical endeavor to find Fort Halifax!

• The National Trust for Historic Preservation — Louis J. Appel Jr. Preservation Fund - $10,000.00 grant
• The Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission Keystone Historic Preservation - $17,746.00 grant
• The Stabler Foundation, a local charitable foundation providing grants to Non-Profit organizations and institutions located or providing their primary services in central and/or eastern Pennsylvania - $3,500.00 grant.
• An anonymous benefactor has stepped up offering to match collective donations of up to $2,100 to secure the last $4,200 FoFHP, Inc. needs.  FoFHP is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. If you would like to support this funding effort to find Fort Halifax you can donate via tax deductible PayPal (use button below) or your tax deductible check.  Please mail your check to:
  FRIENDS of FORT HALIFAX PARK, INC.
  Attention: Discovery of Fort Halifax Project
  PO Box 565
  Halifax, PA 17032​
• Flyrod Raffle - A handmade fly rod by rod maker Joe Baker will be raffled off on April 30, 2021 for benefit of the Fort Halifax Rediscovery Project.  Tickets are limited to 100 at $20.00 each.  See flyer for more information! 

Thank you for your support!

---

See the following for more 2021 and 2023 Rediscovery Project Information: 
Rediscovery Project
Rediscovery Blog

Spear Head 10/28/17

Dig Area Example

Some Artifacts