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The Queen Esther’s Town Preserve is located in Milan in northeast Pennsylvania. The site, which is more than 92 acres, sits along an expansive floodplain near the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chemung Rivers. After working for over a decade to acquire the property, the Conservancy finally signed an option to purchase the site, which has staggering research potential for future scholars.

Queen Esther is thought to have been of French and Native American ancestry. She married a Delaware Indian chief and had an influential position in the tribe. In the mid to late 1700s she was the leader of the eponymous Queen Esther’s Town, which consisted of about 70 houses. Her own dwelling was referred to in historical accounts as her “castle.” In addition to these structures, the community had a large herd of cattle that they grazed on Queen Esther’s Flats.

Summary. Read more in American Archaeology Vol. 19 No. 1, Spring 2015