Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Anthropology

Major Professor

Nancy White, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Robert H. Tykot, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Diane Wallman, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Davide Tanasi, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Denise Cali, Ph.D.

Keywords

antebellum commerce, Florida antebellum, historical archaeology, yellow fever, shipping, natural disaster

Abstract

The town of St. Joseph, established in 1835, served as a deep-water port for receiving and shipping dry goods up the Apalachicola River north along the vast network of navigable inland waterways in the southeastern U.S. during the early nineteenth century. Unfortunately, this town was hit with a yellow fever epidemic, a fire, and a series of hurricanes that, combined with the infancy of its cotton trade activities, eventually devastated its economy and population. The town disappeared by 1842, only much later to be replaced by modern Port St. Joe (est. 1909), located north of the original settlement. However, St. Joseph's influence on Florida's economy was paramount. It hosted Florida's first constitutional convention, where the first five state constitutions were drafted. Despite St. Joseph's historical gravity, little was known about its success as a city or the extent of its infrastructure; much of this information is passed on through local folklore.

Recently, archaeological fieldwork, archival research, and documentation of private artifact collections were undertaken to separate the city's legends from history. This research also utilizes material culture and remote sensing technology to examine questions about the yellow fever epidemic, document the settlement's layout, and attempt to investigate some of the economic activity areas that helped give rise to the City of St. Joseph. The boundaries of the known settlement were expanded, the historic cemetery proved to have no mass graves from the yellow fever epidemic, the St. Joseph racetrack was documented, and more material culture, especially ceramics, of the briefly existing city was documented to show both elite and utilitarian items.

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