Site Overview	Excavation	Shell Midden

(Mitchelville) The Fish Haul Archaeological Site is significant because it represents intact archaeological remains with a demonstrated high degree of integrity and the capability of yielding information on archaeological manifestations about which there is little extant data. Both prehistoric and historic components were found at the site. The prehistoric component represents a non-shell midden Stallings phase (ca. 1800-1300 B.C.) site which was reoccupied numerous times by small groups attracted to the site in the fall, primarily for the hickory nut mast. The historic component represents a freemen’s village, known as Mitchelville, which was occupied during the transition between slavery and freedom by Sea Island blacks (1862-1880s). Mitchelville was developed as an actual town, with neatly arranged streets, ¼-acre lots, a town supervisor and councilmen elected by the black residents, laws regulating sanitation and community behavior, and a compulsory education law. The Fish Haul site represents the only known freedmen village established by occupying Union troops. Listed in the National Register June 30, 1988.

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