Shedding Light on Undocumented Lives

Historic Archaeology at Camp Nelson

Primary Sources: Artifacts from Camp Nelson

Melted bottle glass fragments and burned square-cut nails Refugee Encampment, Camp Nelson

Melted glass medicine bottle fragment and melted rubber hair comb Refugee Encampment, Camp Nelson

Porcelain doll head, glass beads, and coins Refugee Encampment, Camp Nelson

Military coat, shirt, and underwear buttonsRefugee Encampment , Camp Nelson  

Key to Button Types in Previous Slide

Primary Sources: The Freedom to Read

Photograph of Elijah P. Marrs

Muster and Descriptive Roll into the United States Colored Troops (USCT)for Elijah P. Marrs, September 26, 1864

Primary Sources: Observation and Inference

 Blacksmiths and farriers shoeing a muleCamp Nelson around 1864

Primary Sources: Photography

Dormitories, cottages, tents, and hutsHome for Colored Refugees, Camp Nelson, 1865 (now known as Hall, Kentucky)

Cottages Home for Colored Refugees, Camp Nelson, 1865

Section of a photograph labeled“Barracks for Colored Troops, Camp Nelson, Ky.” around 1864

Primary Sources: Historic Maps

Map of Camp Nelson and Its Defenses by Lt. Col. James H. Simpson, 1864

Map of Camp Nelson, Showing the Location of Buildings by A. B. Miller, 1866

Primary Sources: Public Art

Photograph of the Shaw Memorial by Augustus Saint-Gaudens (gilded plaster cast, final version, 1900)  

Photograph of The Three Servicemen by Frederick Hart (bronze, 1984)  

Kentucky Archaeological Survey Jointly Administered by the Kentucky Heritage

Council (State Historic Preservation Office)and the University Of Kentucky Department Of

Anthropology

Funding Provided by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

Consulting Archaeologist Dr. W. Stephen McBride

Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park Prepared by

Judy Sizemore and A. Gwynn Henderson2012