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Writer's pictureAndrew Rapoza

Huntsville24!

Updated: Oct 23

This past week my wife enjoyed a wonderful archaeological exhibition and excellent talk about the ongoing archaeological dig at Wasington-on-the-Brazos, one of the oldest and most historically significant towns in Texas. They were both held at the Walker Education Center, which is part of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, and the whole experience was well worth the trip.

It was like a miniature version of the great Houston24 National Bottle Exhibition held back in August - and we had a great time!

Before the seminar, we took in the museum exhibition; it's in just two rooms, but beautifully done and really fascinating. I'm not putting in a lot of text about the exhibit - I'm just going to let the pictures do most of the talking - but you will see how many of their finds were bottles and bottle fragments. Along with the other relics found, the archaeological display looked very much like what I've come across in my days digging dumps in New England. The bits and pieces of history were uncovered archaeological sites throughout Texas. So with that, I hope you enjoy experiencing some of the exhibition for yourself.

(All photographs by me, shared with the kind permission of Michael C. Sproat, Curator of Collections at the Sam Houston Memorial museum and Republic of Texas Presidential Library.)


The large alkaline glaze jug, circa 1850s, was made at the Kirbee Kiln in Montgomery County, TX. It was not dug, but retrieved from the Fanthorp Inn in Anderson, Texas (which still stands, now a beautifully restored state historic building.)


The proverbial "fish out of water," but unquestionably the distinctive figural Fish Bitters.


I have only found one pipe bowl in my life (when I was about 6, and I still have it), but I would love to have some more in my collection; I think they're as evocative of lives past as bottles and antique advertising.


These images of an archaeological dig remind me of Brandon DeWolfe's great Houston24 presentation about digging in Galveston and all the amazing artifacts he and his three children have discovered over the years.



This great snuff bottle instantly brings back memories of the world-class snuff bottle collection displayed at Houston24 by my neighbor at that event and my new friend, Brian Commerton, the Snuff King!

In the wonderful seminar given by Alexandra Younger, MS, RPA, and Principal Investigator at the archaeological excavations at Wasington-on-the-Brazos, TX, I loved seeing the shout-out in the lower left corner of her slide that the "Success to the Railroad" flask illustrations came from the FOHBC Virtual Museum. She went on to compliment the FOHBC for that wonderful website and rightly so; it's one of the finest bottle sites on the internet. This slide represents to me the important cooperation between the FOHBC, museums, and other professional historical entities.

From another of Ms. Younger's great slides ... the Rucker Drug Store, ca. 1856 (original at the Star of the Republic Museum, Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site). These guys look pretty cold, waiting for the store to open.

I'm ending your tour with this poster in the exhibition because the graphic caught my attention. I believe there's plenty of room for archaeology and bottle-digging to coexist and even work together, but the 1% out there who just dig for dollars, plundering historical sites, the environment, and personal property, ruin things for everyone and tarnish the reputation of careful, respectful bottle diggers who ask permission, respect the dig site, and restore it to an even better condition than how they found it. The guys in this poster are clearly NOT bottle diggers from our hobby - they are history bandits (and packing heat no less - good grief).

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fmeyer
fmeyer
Oct 27
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Nice pics! I did not realize the museum was open. Written about the dig before in the magazine. Thanks!

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panda19us
Oct 26
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

So glad you guys had such a great time. Looks like there was a lot of interesting things to see there!

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