This week I spoke with David Hay, a second year in the Applied Archaeology Masters program.

His thesis research is on an early 19th century mill site located in McConnells Mill State Park (PA). Very little research has been done on the mill, so his thesis will focus on the basics, which includes using historical documents to determine the history of the mill. This also includes determining the layout of the site and comparing it to other mills in western PA.

David using the total station

His research into historical documents led him to the Lawrence and Beaver Counties historical societies. There he looked at county histories, maps, tax records, and any other document he could find relating to the mill. His fieldwork was conducted in October 2025: he and some peers conducted metal detecting, mapped above ground features, and took dendrochronological samples. He mapped using a total station to take location points of the features that still remain at the site. Points were taken for the foundations, a retaining wall, mill stones, and the artifacts found during metal detecting. These points will be used to create a map of the site. The dendrochronological samples were taken from logs that are believed to be remains from the mill dam. Cores of the logs were taken to measure the tree rings and then analyzed to determine what year the tree was cut down. This is useful to obtain a rough date for when the mill was built.

From David: The results of the fieldwork are still being worked through, but once I have a firm grasp on how this mill was laid out I will compare it to other mills in the area. This comparison will determine if this mill is unique or if it follows the common design for the area. The historical document research has not provided an exact history but is pointing to this mill being built by Johnston Knight sometime in the 1820s.

Check out our Instagram page, @iup_archaeology for more pictures!

Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences at IUP