Precision dating and cultural history of the La Pointe-Krebs House (22JA526), Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA

The La Pointe-Krebs House in Pascagoula, Mississippi is an important archaeological site (22JA526) located in the southeast United States (US). Despite being subjected to several independent archaeological and architectural studies, the exact calendar year(s) of construction for the original building and subsequent additions was unknown. We identified and sampled 26 timbers throughout the structure that contained bark or a smooth, curved outer surface that would return near-cutting or cutting dates using techniques of dendroarchaeology. A total of 14 samples came from timbers associated with the original 2-room Center Room, 9 from the East Room addition, and 3 from the West Room addition. All sampled timbers derived from a southern yellow pine tree species, most likely Pinus palustris (Mill.; longleaf pine) which was once widely distributed across the southeast US. The structure chronology spanned the period 1572–1932 CE with an inter-series correlation of r = 0.49 (1595–1788; p < 0.001) and was correlated against a regional P. palustris reference chronology from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida (n = 194 years, r = 0.40; t = 6.03, p < 0.001). Compilation of the cutting- and near-cutting dates revealed three distinct dating groups of timbers. First, three timbers from the Center Room have cut dates of 1757 CE. Second, two timbers in the East Room had cutting dates of 1762 CE. Third, three timbers with bark located over the Center and East Rooms dated to 1772 CE and were most likely repairs made to the roof following Bernard Roman's Hurricane in September 1772. No samples collected from the West Room provided near-cutting or cutting dates. The Gulf Coast region of the US has strong ties to French culture, heritage, and history, and the La Pointe-Krebs House played an important role during the creation of that culture in the region that still exists today.