Early nineteenth century domestic life at Macktown

The Hayes Tavern, also known as Stephen Mack’s “double log cabin”, was one of the first buildings constructed at Macktown. It was built between 1836 and 1838 and was occupied until ca. 1846. The fate of the building is unknown; it may have been dismantled and moved to Rockton or may have been scavenged for reusable building material. Excavations in 1998 and 1999 uncovered the Hayes Tavern root cellar, which had been filled immediately after abandonment with a rich array of domestic debris belonging to some of Macktown’s earliest settlers. Architectural evidence suggests the structure may have been an open timber frame home rather than a log cabin. Investigations also revealed that nineteenth-century construction activities impacted dense prehistoric (Middle Archaic and Late Woodland) deposits.