{"nrhp_refnum":"09000863","name":"Barber, Peale's, Farm Mastodon Exhumation Site","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Rt. 17K","address_restricted":false,"city":"Montgomery","county":"Orange County","state":"NY","lat":41.52853131100005,"lon":-74.21723763999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-10-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Science","Other"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2.06-acre archaeological and historic site on the north side of Route 17K, east of the Village of Montgomery, Orange County, New York. It is the flooded marl bog on the former Barber farm where Charles Willson Peale excavated mastodon bones in August 1801.","why_significant":"The 1801 excavation, carried out at the Barber farm and two other Orange County sites, helped produce the world's first fully articulated prehistoric skeleton. The work was sponsored by the American Philosophical Society, supported by the Federal government at President Jefferson's request, and is described as the first American scientific expedition. It also fed into early American paleontology and the developing theory of extinction.","narrative":"This 2.06-acre site on Route 17K east of Montgomery, New York, is the flooded marl bog where artist and scientist Charles Willson Peale and his team dug for mastodon bones in August 1801. Today it appears as a small, spring-fed pond ringed by natural growth, with the line of the original drainage trench still readable in the landscape. The site has no buildings or structures. It was located in 2004 by local historian Joe Devine, using period accounts, historical maps, elevation models and fieldwork. The Barber farm dig was one of three Orange County excavations that summer, sponsored by the American Philosophical Society with Federal help requested by President Jefferson. The recovered bones allowed Peale to assemble two nearly complete mastodon skeletons, including the first fully articulated prehistoric skeleton. The effort is described as the first American scientific expedition, a landmark in American paleontology, and a contribution to early thinking about extinction and to debates over the American continent's natural history.","period_of_significance":"1801","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Unoccupied land with no buildings or structures; a spring-fed pond marks the old excavation, and a residential development is planned for part of the adjoining property.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:47.868337-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/09000863.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000863/1c5420d481-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000863/1c5420d481-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Charles Willson Peale","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:C_W_Peale_-_The_Exhumation_of_the_Mastadon.jpeg\" rel=\"noopener\">Charles Willson Peale</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:C_W_Peale_-_The_Exhumation_of_the_Mastadon.jpeg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320570","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peale%27s_Barber_Farm_Mastodon_Exhumation_Site","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7157905"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/orange-county/barber-peales-farm-mastodon-exhumation-site-09000863/"}