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 The Lorain Site is
located along a well developed terrace edge in the Missouri Bottom, in western
St. Louis County immediately across the river from St. Charles, Missouri on land
once associated with the August Chouteau plantation. Archaeological mitigation
of this site was conducted in conjunction with the development of a large
commercial and industrial park located adjacent to I-370. Although survey data
for this site suggested the presence of a non-descript late nineteenth century
farmstead, excavations indicated the presence of a short-term (circa
1840-1865) rural habitation site. Although only two subsurface features (a
relatively large wood-lined cellar which had been rebuilt several times due to
damaging flood episodes, and a probable daub preparation pit) were located at
the site, the cellar contained a wealth of artifacts that document both domestic
and non-domestic activities. The domestic artifacts included a variety of
mid-century ceramic tablewares and great variety in personal items that suggest
the presence of both women and children (such as jewelry, parasol fragments,
bone dominoes, and doll fragments). Although the ceramic tablewares do not
indicate a family of high status, the personal items found at this site suggest
an association with a family of relatively high status. Additionally, a wide
variety of non-domestic artifacts were recovered that suggest numerous
male-oriented activities (such as blacksmithing, gunsmithing, leatherworking,
woodworking, and potentially tailoring). The presence of numerous Civil War era
military buttons raises the possibility that this site was abandoned and/or
filled during the middle 1860s. Although elusive in the archival record, a
military blockhouse (located only a few hundred yards south of the site) appears
documented on a single 1860s map of the project area. Although the archival
record has been feisty to interpret, this site appears to have been either
occupied by a traditional Missouri-Creole family or by ex-slaves of the
Chouteau family.
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