Chapter 1 - Cultural Resources Report - 1996
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EVALUATION OF SELECTED CULTURAL RESOURCES  AT FORT MONMOUTH, NEW JERSEY:  CONTEXT FOR COLD WAR ERA,  REVISION OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES DOCUMENTATION,  AND SURVEY OF EVANS AREA  AND SECTIONS OF CAMP CHARLES WOOD by  Mary Beth Reed  Mark Swanson  NEW SOUTH ASSOCIATES  Stone Mountain, Georgia  Subcontractor for Geo-Marine, Inc.  and  Rebecca Procter  Marsha Prior June 1996

MISCELLANEOUS REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS  NUMBER 125  Geo-Marine, Inc.  550 East Fifteenth Street  Plano, Texas for  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers  Fort Worth District  819 Taylor Street  Fort Worth, Texas

 INTRODUCTION

Staff of Geo-Marine, Inc., and New South Associates conducted research into selected cultural resources at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and its auxiliary areas, Camp Charles Wood and Evans (Figure 1), during August, 1995, to accomplish four tasks.  One task was the production of an overview of the Cold War mission and role of Fort Monmouth.  Second was a reassessment and revision of the documentation of historic properties present on the installation.  The third and fourth tasks constituted an archeological survey of the Evans area and part of the Camp Charles Wood area to record cultural properties and to relocate and evaluate potential archeological sites predicted by previous research.

Chapters 2 and 3 provide a brief background of the physical and cultural environment at Fort Monmouth, with greater attention to the historic period.  The sparseness of prehistoric cultural remains on fort property has indicated that at present it is unlikely that there are prehistoric cultural properties that could be considered eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

Chapter 4 traces the history of Fort Monmouth from its opening in 1917 through the present, with special emphasis on the installation’s role during the Cold War.  Fort Monmouth’s importance during that period is especially associated with its significance as a center of research and development in communications technology and space exploration.  The area’s association with the inventor Marconi and his company reinforces the fort’s role in communications.  A review of significant political events during the Cold War, many of them connected with Fort Monmouth personnel, provides an intense background to the developments being pursued on the installation.

Chapter 5 outlines the inventory and reassessment of historic properties at Fort Monmouth.  This reassessment is accompanied by updated HABS documentation of historic properties in Appendix A.  In all, 186 buildings, structures, or equipment items were assessed in the inventory process.  Twenty-six of these historic properties are either included in, or eligible for inclusion in, the NRHP.

Chapter 6 describes in detail the survey of approximately 247 acres in the Camp Charles Wood and Evans areas, as well as the recording of one historic site in the Evans area.  The historic site and its nearby dump areas were found to contain significant cultural material relating to the early twentieth-century occupation, and it is recommended that additional archeological and archival work be carried out to confirm site function and to determine its eligibility for inclusion in the NRHP.  It is also recommended that no further work be undertaken in other surveyed areas within the Camp Charles Wood and Evans areas and that these areas be prepared for final disposition.

fig 1. Map of Fort Monmouth showing locations of Charles Wood Area and Evans Area

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