Archaeology in the Adirondacks: The Grasse River Railroad Trail

In this presentation, I introduced the CSU/Cleveland communities to my feasibility/archaeological assessment of the prospects for redeveloping the defunct Grasse River Railroad (GRRR) as a trail for biking and hiking. I recounted both my main findings and the investigative methodology by which I arrived at them. In particular, I considered my literature search; archival research; satellite, aerial photo, and Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis, especially Google Maps; and my ground reconnaissance and Global Positioning System (GPS) survey of the bed, including multiple transits of its length hiking and biking. The main purposes of this exercise were to establish the scholarly nature of the work and to familiarize students and the archaeological community with how a widely available on-line resource (Google Maps) can be employed in the landscape study of an archaeological features, the GRRR and associated remains.