Harris County Boys' School Archeological Site
Seabrook, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In this vicinity lies evidence of a prehistoric Indian campsite and burial ground that takes its current name from the property on which it resided at the time of its discovery. The archeological site is classified as a shell midden site because of the presence of a midden, or refuse pile, of oyster and rangia clam shell. The midden collected as the result of early inhabitants consuming shellfish and leaving the empty shells where they are, which was usually at or near their campsite. Archeological excavations revealed a variety of artifacts, including a Plainview dart point, which is associated with very early Indians. Its discovery supported radiocarbon testing that had dated part of the midden to 1476 B.C. Evidence of 32 burials was uncovered in another section of the site. Analysis of ceramics interred with the burials dated the cemetery from the first millenium A.D. Scientific investigation of the Harris County Boys' School Archeological Site led to other studies of the cultural aspects of the prehistoric inhabitants of the area. The site remains as a significant example of the shell midden, once relatively common along the Texas Coast, but now rarely found due to beach erosion and subsidence. (1985)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This archeological site preserves evidence of Native life on the Texas coast reaching back thousands of years. It is a shell midden—a refuse heap of oyster and rangia clam shells left by early inhabitants beside their campsite—that also held a burial ground. Excavations recovered a Plainview dart point tied to very early peoples and radiocarbon-dated part of the midden to 1476 B.C., while ceramics buried with 32 individuals dated the cemetery to the first millennium A.D.
Why it matters
Once common along the Texas coast but now largely lost to erosion, sites like this are irreplaceable windows into thousands of years of Indigenous life before European contact.
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Nearby & related markers
Prehistoric Indian Campsite
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For centuries, Native peoples harvested rangia clams from Galveston Bay and discarded the shells here, building up a "shell midden" that eventually grew large enough to serve as the foundation for a substantial campsite. Stone tools and pottery found in the mound reveal later occupation, and while the earliest inhabitants can't be named, both the Orcoquisac and Karankawa are known to have lived in the area in historic times. Storms, erosion, and shell mining have destroyed most such sites, making this one of Harris County's best surviving examples.
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