Limited Data Recovery at the Tapscott-Eason Site (1Mg774)

The University of Alabama, Office of Archaeological Services conducted a limited Phase  III data recovery program at the Tapscott-Eason site (1Mg774) located in central Morgan County, Alabama. While the site contains both prehistoric and historic components, it was the significance of the historic component that lead to the Phase III investigations. The historic occupation begins as early as the early-middle nineteenth century and extends throughout the twentieth century. A ca. 1900 I house sits atop the site and is its most distinguishing feature.
The Tapscott-Eason site represents a nineteenth-twentieth century occupancy in the rural landscape of Morgan County, Alabama. Historic documentation indicates that the property was first purchased in 1831. Archaeological deposits represent its continual occupation. Records predating 1890 are obscure and it is unknown when the property was first acquired by the Tapscotts. Jeremiah Lauderdale first purchased the property in 1831. Robert Tapscott had purchased adjoining property in 1831 and Archibald Tapscott bought surrounding property in 1855. By 1890 the property was owned by R.L. Tapscott and it is probably this lineage that built the I house. The property was eventually traded to W.B. Eason in 1923, who may have been related to the Tapscotts by his wife, Ivie. W.B. Eason started a dairy cattle farm on the property in the 1940s. The dairy operated into the 1980s and the property was finally sold to George and James Stephenson in 1987.
The Tapscott-Eason site is considered eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The I house is considered eligible under Criterion C. The structure is a rare example of a rural, late nineteenth/early twentieth century I house with a hall and parlor floor plan. The archaeological site is considered eligible under Criterion D. The site contains subsurface features, some stratification, and dense deposits indicative of its nineteenth-twentieth century tenancy. Together, the I house and archaeological deposits present a unique opportunity to explore the early historic occupancy of rural North Alabama.

Hendryx, Gregory S.
1998 Limited Data Recovery at the Tapscott-Eason Site (1Mg774): A Nineteenth-Twentieth Century Homestead in Morgan County, Alabama.