Object Name:
Musical Instrument
Object ID:
12.0303
Case:
Our favorite inventory find this week is fragments of a two–tone harmonica from the Searsville Dam Keeper's house site in Stanford University's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. Searsville Lake was once a timber town, flooded by the damming of San Francisquito Creek in 1892. Founded around 1854, Searsville was the first settlement in San Mateo County and, until the flood, a hub of industry and rural social life. This harmonica was used by a member of the Duerst family; it may be the one Keeper Melchior Duerst purchased from a local store in 1895 (according to Dave Daly's 2017 dissertation on the site). The instrument's distinctive reedy sound must have entertained him and his wife and daughters. More artifacts from Searsville can be found on our Collections Online by searching for "Searsville" here: http://stanford.pastperfectonline.com/.
Material(s):
Metal & Wood
Place of origin:
North America; United States; San Mateo County; Jasper Ridge Preserve
Provenance:
The Stanford University Archaeologist's Office summer 2012 dig pertained to the history of Searsville Dam and Reservoir and took place at the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve on Stanford land in San Mateo County, California. The Dam keeper's house was one of the properties sought and thirty–five test pits were excavated in an area to the west and south of Searsville Dam. This item was from one of the test pits.
Collection:
Archaeology – Dam Keeper
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