Rare 19th-century coins found after fire at historic tavern

Out of the ashes of a devastating fire, archeologists are uncovering exciting insights into Ohio history. On December 7, 2024, a fire swept through southwestern Ohio’s Overfield Tavern Museum in Troy, destroying several historical items in the museum’s collection. But the fire also presented a unique opportunity: to excavate underneath the more than 200-year-old structure. During the dig, a team of archaeologists uncovered an 1817 50-cent piece, ceramics, and Native American artifacts, and more beneath the charred floorboards.

“Thousands of artifacts were recovered and are currently being washed, cataloged, and studied by the archaeologists in preparation for a report of investigations,” Executive Director M. Chris Manning tells Popular Science. 

The Overfield Tavern Museum is housed in a log building that Benjamin and Margaret Overfield built in 1808. The young couple emigrated to the Ohio frontier from eastern Pennsylvania in 1803, when Ohio became the 17th U.S. state. 

“The tavern was the first building in Troy and served as a tavern, inn, county courthouse for three years, and general gathering place for the community,” says Manning. 

It became Troy’s first courthouse in 1811 and remained a working tavern until 1824. In 1976, the Overfield Tavern was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

While the building’s log walls survived the fire, a large collection of historical artifacts inside from the 19th century were lost to the flames. After the fire, it became clear that to restore the historic tavern all of the flooring would need to be ripped up and replaced. But this also presented an exciting opportunity for the museum board and staff to see what lay beneath the centuries-old wooden floor.

According to Manning, the dig began earlier this month and lasted 10 days. A team of six archeologists excavated several areas, including beneath the floorboards of three of the tavern’s rooms. The archeology team also conducted ground penetrating radar investigations in the backyard to identify anomalies before digging began. One of the anomalies corresponded with a masonry outbuilding that is shown on historic maps, and an excavation unit investigated that site as well.

“The 1817 50-cent piece was found under the floor inside the tavern and may have been used to purchase a beverage or meal at the tavern when it was in operation,” says Manning. “We also found large amounts of animal bones, particularly pig and fish, which reflects the diet of the early occupants. We know that the Overfields owned 78 hogs in 1810, some of which were likely butchered on the site as indicated by the discovery of pig jaw bones.”

Some of the other artifacts of note include a fragment of a decorated smoking pipe; clay marbles; buttons made from bone, glass, metal, and shell; straight pins used to fasten clothing; a delicate finger ring; what appears to be a French gunflint; a wide range of broken ceramics ranging from redware to hand-painted pearlware to transfer-printed whiteware; and two broken prehistoric projectile points (arrowheads).

Many of the new finds will help replenish the tavern’s collections, while an architect specializing in log structures will help rebuild and restore the historic tavern. The total cost is estimated to be about $1 million. 

“We hope to reopen the fully restored museum in late 2027,” says Manning. “Despite the devastation of the fire and the loss of invaluable museum objects, we are excited about the future and the opportunity we have to tell the story of Troy’s original gathering place even better than before.”

 

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