2023 Fort Halifax Rediscovery Project -  Juniata College

Friends of Fort Halifax Park, Inc. is thrilled to announce that it will host another "Rediscovery Project" from June 4-24, 2023.  See below.
Click here for the National Park Service announcement. 
More information will be available soon..

Juniata College ArchaeologyJuniata College Archaeology Field School Announcement:
Fort Halifax Rediscovery 2023
Juniata College is offering a 4-credit undergraduate archaeological field school at Fort Halifax (Dauphin County, Pennsylvania) from June 4 to 24, 2023. Fort Halifax was constructed by the newly formed Pennsylvania Regiment in 1756 to protect the British Provincial frontier in the Susquehanna Valley in the wake of General Braddock’s defeat in 1755. Part of the fortification was located in 2021—this field school will focus on further defining the boundaries, features, and activity areas of the fortification. Through this community-based project aided by a National Park Service Battlefield Protection Grant, students will become versed in archaeological excavation techniques, artifact identification, metal detector survey, and professional development. This field school has an excellent reputation for preparing students for graduate studies and for entry-level positions in cultural resource management. Please direct inquiries for registration to Dr. Jonathan Burns: burns@juniata.edu. #juniatacollege #fieldschool #archaeology

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2021 Fort Halifax Rediscovery Project -  Juniata College

Friends of Fort Halifax Park, Inc. is scheduling support volunteers to assist with food set-up/clean-up, and miscellaneous other duties, as well as assisting at the dig.  If you would like to be part of this exciting archaeological event to find Fort Halifax please email us with your name and a phone number where we can reach you!   

Dr. Jonathan Burns, Director of the Cultural Resource Institute at Juniata College, will lead a team of 15 archaeology students who will endeavor to locate the site of one of Pennsylvania's frontier fort's, Fort Halifax.  It is believed that this historic fort is located within the borders of Fort Halifax Park.  This exciting field school experience will begin June 13, 2021 and end on June 28, 2021.  

For more information about the Fort Halifax Rediscovery Project: 
                    Announcement               Synopsis
              Juniata College Cultural Resource Institute

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​Friends of Fort Halifax, Inc. has been awarded three grants toward funding for the Juniata College Cultural Resources Institute "2021 Fort Halifax Rediscovery Project" field school scheduled for this summer.  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!
        Funding for this project is almost complete!

• 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
  Additional Funding Initiatives:
• THERE IS STILL TIME! An anonymous benefactor has stepped up offering to match collective donations of up to $2,100 to secure the last $2,200 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 your tax deductible check made payable to "FoFHP".  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 -  Congratulations to MURRAY SMALL of Boiling Springs who won the beautifully hand-crafted flyrod!  State Representative Sue Helm drew the winning ticket on Saturday, May 1 at Fort Halifax Park.  Many thanks to everyone for supporting this raffle, to Joe Baker, and Representative Sue Helm.

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News From FoFHP March Newsletter
The Stockade

"Friends of Fort Halifax Park, Inc. is pleased and very excited to welcome the JUNIATA COLLEGE CULTURAL RESOURCES INSTITUTE - FORT HALIFAX REDISCOVERY PROJECT to Fort Halifax Park this summer. Barring complications related to the pandemic, the school will take place at the park for 15 consecutive days beginning on Sunday, June13 and running to Monday, June 28. The archaeology work will be supervised by Dr. Jonathon Burns, from Juniata College. Dr. Burns, who is held in very high regard in the archaeology world also supervised the excavations at Colonial Fort Shirley, Fort Littleton, and Fort Ligonier and at the Stroud Mansion.
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Cooperating in the project will be a team of undergraduate and graduate archaeology field school students and facilitators with volunteers from the US veterans public service organization, Team Rubicon.  This approach of involving veterans in the archaeology of military sites was pioneered in the UK and has been successfully implemented at Fort Ligonier in Pennsylvania as well as by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the Veterans Curation Program.

The archaeology team will be sleeping in tents and taking their meals on the porch of Yeager House. The school administrative office will be set up in the house. FoFHP has assembled a FOOD COMMITTEE to plan for breakfasts and dinners for the approximately 20 participants in the school. Lunch will be on their own. We are looking for sponsors - which could be individuals, groups, clubs, local businesses or restaurants - to provide dinners for the 20+/- school participants. If you would like to sponsor a meal, please call Norma (717-896-8510) and leave your name and number, speak to any FoFHP board member, leave a Facebook  message via our Facebook page, or email us friendsofforthalifax@gmail.com.   At present we have on the schedule volunteers for 4 individual dinners, an individual breakfast, and a group for 7 breakfasts.  Meal pick-ups can be arranged, if needed.  Thank you in advance for your generosity and/or consideration of assistance.
 
Fort Halifax Park will continue to be open to the public throughout the term of the archaeology school. Hiking, fishing, kayaking, and picnicking areas will still be available, although some sections will be cordoned off to the public as appropriate.
 
THANK YOU in advance for your assistance as we give a nice FRIENDLY HALIFAX WELCOME to the people who will be working hard to find FORT HALIFAX!"

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