In 1997, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in cooperation with the Department of Anthropology of New York University, began a program to document and evaluate five French and Indian War fortifications within its boundaries. The first field season, led by Dr. Pam Crabtree, began on July 6 and ended on July 31, 1998, at the site of Ft. John, Walpack Township, Sussex County, New Jersey. Educational activities played an important role during thesummer field seasons with both undergraduate and graduate students participating, many to fulfill their regular and advanced field schools courses. In addition, local area high school students and other volunteers assisted in the field work.

During the 1998 field season, a total of nine 3 ft. by 10 ft. trenches (numbered by letters A through I) were excavated. Trenches A through F, and H were excavated in an attempt to locate the east and north foundation remnants of the stone dwelling. In Trench C, a cultural feature (Feature #1), appearing to be a stone filled trench, was identified. This may represent part of the foundation of the stone dwelling. Feature 2 consisted of the foundation stone and a rather large post mold to the north of the stone. It is suspected that the stone dwelling depicted in Hampton's ca. 1758 map, may have been erected on foundation piers and not upon a perimeter foundation.

The 1998 archeological investigation yielded a rich artifact assemblage. About 1000 artifacts were recovered, and ranged in date from about 3000 B.C. to post-1950 modern objects (i.e. plastic, various beer cans, etc.). The artifact assemblage contained quite a few prehistoric artifacts, including 15 projectile points. Most of these are representative of projectile points of the Late Archaic (3000-1000 B.C.) and Late Woodland (AD900-1550) cultural periods. The majority of historic artifacts dated to the 19th century with only a few ceramics and white clay pipe fragments, possibly dating to the 18th century.