Abstract:
An antebellum freed African American settlement in northwestern Pennsylvania existed
from 1854 into the postbellum period and the early twentieth century. At the time of its
establishment, 63 manumitted African Americans traveled from a central Virginia plantation to
start a new life. The site of Pandenarium, identified as site 36ME253 in the Pennsylvania
Archaeological Site Survey (PASS) Files, persists in the historical and archaeological records,
despite years of neglect and agricultural practices carried out at the site. While vestiges of the
community remain, little was known about the people that once lived at Pandenarium, the
abolitionists that built the settlement, and the wealthy planters that freed them. Historical
archaeological investigations carried out at the site sought to understand the spatial layout of the
site, the motivations of the parties involved in the establishment and development of
Pandenarium, and the lives of the African American residents, pre- and post-Civil War. The
research design was developed using practice theory, cultural landscape theory, and critical
theory. The questions asked of the site, its spatial layout, and the historic records were
ultimately used to elucidate the story of the men, women, and children living at Pandenarium.
