Archaeology in Annapolis
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/10990
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Item Preliminary Report on Archaeological Investigations in The Eastport Neighborhood of the City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland: 119 Chester Avenue (18AP93) and 110 Chesapeake Avenue (18AP94)(2003-02) Palus, Matthew M.; Leone, Mark P.From June 11- July 19, 2001, the University of Maryland archaeology field school conducted test excavations at two properties in the Eastport neighborhood of the City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County Maryland, at 119 Chester Avenue (Site 18AP93) and 110 Chesapeake Avenue (Site 18AP94). This investigation was initiated by Archaeology in Annapolis, a cooperative project between the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) and the Historic Annapolis Foundation (HAF), and was conducted in association with the instruction of the summer field school in urban archaeology offered annually through the Department of Anthropology at UMCP. Investigations at these two properties were undertaken as part of an initiative to explore Eastport as a potential area to host future seasons of excavation with the UMCP archaeology field school, both to contribute towards a deeper understanding of the history and development of this community and to provide archaeological data where currently there is very little available. This research is being developed in consultation with Peg Wallace at the Annapolis Maritime Museum in Eastport. The research described in this report was conducted under the direction of Dr. Mark P. Leone, Department of Anthropology at UMCP, and Dr. Jessica Neuwirth, formerly with the Historic Annapolis Foundation, with field supervision by Matthew Palus and Kris Beadenkopf.Item Preliminary Report on Archaeological Investigations in The Eastport Neighborhood of the City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland: 119 Chester Avenue (18AP93) and 110 Chesapeake Avenue (18AP94)(2003-02) Palus, Matthew M.; Leone, Mark P.From June 11 - July l9, 2001, the University of Maryland archaeology field school conducted test excavations at two properties in the Eastport neighborhood of the City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, at ll9 Chester Avenue (Site 18AP93) and 110 Chesapeake Avenue (Site 18AP94). This investigation was initiated by Archaeology in Annapolis, a cooperative project between the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) and the Historic Annapolis Foundation (HAF), and was conducted in association with the instruction of the summer field school in urban archaeology offered annually through the Department of Anthropology at UMCP. Investigations at these two properties were undertaken as part of an initiative to explore Eastport as a potential area to host future seasons of excavation with the UMCP archaeology field school, both to contribute towards a deeper understanding of the history and development of this community and to provide archaeological data where currently there is very little available. This research is being developed in consultation with Peg Wallace at the Annapolis Maritime Museum in Eastport. The research described in this report was conducted under the direction of Dr. Mark P. Leone, Department of Anthropology at UMCP, and Dr. Jessica Neuwirth, formerly with the Historic Annapolis Foundation, with field supervision by Matthew Palus and Kris Beadenkopf.Item Report on Archaeological Investigations in the Eastport Neighborhood of the City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 2001-2004(2015-05) Palus, Matthew M.; Napoli, Janna M.; Leone, Mark P.This report details the archaeological excavations in Eastport, Maryland at eight different properties during the summers of 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. These include 119 Chester Avenue (18AP93), 110 Chesapeake Avenue (18AP94), 102 Chesapeake Avenue (18AP100), 201 Chesapeake Avenue (18AP101), 512 Second Street (18AP102), 127 Chester Avenue (18AP103), 520 Third Street (18AP105), and 108 Eastern Avenue (18AP106). The Eastport community developed over the later 19th and early 20th centuries on the peninsula immediately to the south of the City of Annapolis, on the eastern shore of the Severn River in Maryland. This peninsula, known as Horne Point, was the location of a series of farms until the second half of the nineteenth century. From the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, Eastport contained a glass company that was utilized by the City of Annapolis. Jurisdictionally, Eastport was an independent village under the Anne Arundel County government until it was annexed into the City of Annapolis in 1951. The county paid for Eastport to receive some services from Annapolis to compensate for its slowly developing infrastructure. The Annapolis Gas and Electric Light Company placed its first arc light on the Spa Creek Bridge in the 1890s, which would mark one of the first such infrastructural connections between the two communities. This connection multiplied during the early 20th century. The Eastport community has not been subjected to systematic archaeological excavations prior to this study. Archaeological research in the Eastport neighborhood has mainly focused on the community of craftspeople, watermen, boat-builders, oyster shuckers, crab pickers, merchants and grocers, builders and tradesmen, engineers and technicians, laborers and domestics that grew up on the peninsula throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. Traditionally Eastport is remembered as a community where working meant more than skin color. However, distinctions were realized between black and white residents, just as they were between old families and recent settlers, skilled and unskilled labor, home owners living in comfort and poor renters crowded into narrow frame dwellings. These dimensions of the community have become a part of its contemporary geography, and they figure strongly in the identity of its residents. The sites investigated from 2001-2004 suggest this diversity. The investigations from 2001 to 2004 aimed to increase these archaeological investigations in order to gain a more thorough understanding of this borough of Annapolis. The excavations took place as part of the University of Maryland Summer Field School in Urban Archaeology offered by Archaeology in Annapolis. The first and second seasons of archaeological excavations took place during the summers of 2001 and 2002, at sites 18AP93 and 18AP94. The third season of archaeological excavations took place during the summer of 2003, at sites 18AP100, 18AP101, 18AP102, and 18AP103. The fourth and final season of archaeological excavations took place during the summer of 2004, at sites 18AP105 and 18AP106. As part of these excavations, shovel test pits (STPs) and excavation units were placed across the front, side, and back yards of the properties. At 18AP93, a total of forty-six STPs were excavated, along with nine 5’ by 5’square excavation units. At site 18AP94, a total of thirty-two 4 STPs were excavated, along with six 5’ by 5’, one 2.5’ by 2.5’, one 4’ by 5’, and one 6’ by 5’ excavation units. At site 18AP100, a total of one 5’ by 5’ and one 6.8’ by 5’ units were excavated. At site 18AP101, a total of seven STPs were excavated, along with five 5’ by 5’ square excavation units. At site 18AP102, a total of fourteen STPs were excavated, along with three 5’ by 5’ square excavation units. At site 18AP103, a total of nine STPs were excavated, along with two 5’ by 5’ square excavation units. At site 18AP105, a total of twenty-three STPs were excavated, along with four 5’ by 5’ and one 4’ by 5’ excavation units. At site 18AP106, a total of forty-four STPs were excavated, along with three 5’ by 5’ square excavation units. Each unit was excavated to sterile soil. After excavations finished each season, all units were backfilled and closed. The excavations within Eastport show that the archaeology of Eastport is intact. The archaeology of house lots has been made to comment on domestic and work life in Eastport from the time of its settlement as a planned town just after the close of the American Civil War. The major contribution that comes from understanding the archaeology of Eastport derives from the work of Matthew Palus in understanding utility lines and their relationship to road building, paving, and the extension of gas, water, sewage, electric, and telephone lines into house lots. Continued excavations have the potential to reveal more information about the changes in the landscape of Eastport during the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, as well as information on the lives of the families who occupied these properties.Item Phase I/II Archaeological Testing on Fleet Street (18AP111), Cornhill Street (18AP112), and 26 Market Space (18AP109), for the Proposed Fleet and Cornhill Streets Reconstruction Project, Annapolis, Maryland, 2008(2008) Cochran, Matthew David; Palus, Matthew M.; Duensing, Stephanie N.; Blair, John E.; Knauf, Jocelyn E.; Mundt, Jessica Leigh; Leone, Mark P.From 3/31/08 to 5/30/08 staff from the Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), Archaeology in Annapolis Project, conducted archaeological testing on city-owned public right-of-ways at 26 Market Space (18AP109), on Fleet Street (18AP111), and on Cornhill Street (18AP112) prior to the upcoming undergrounding and replacement of city-owned utilities along and beneath these streets. In addition, from 06/02/08 to 06/20/08, undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the University of Maryland, Field School in Urban Archaeology conducted further testing of city-owned public right-of-ways on Cornhill Street (18AP112). This Phase II investigation has been conducted at the request of the City of Annapolis, Department of Public Works (DPW) as part of the Fleet and Cornhill Streets Reconstruction Project. The project area comprises the streetscapes of what is referred to as the Fleet-Cornhill neighborhood. Eleven test units were used to evaluate archaeological integrity and significance of these sites and to evaluate the potential effects of planned construction on archaeological resources. Background research shows that the Fleet Street neighborhood was initially developed in the late 17th and early 18th century. Throughout the later 18th, 19th and 20th centuries the area became known as an ethnically diverse working class neighborhood in the heart of the city. Historical residents of the project area have included in the early 20th century native people of European, African descent, and a community of Russian Ashkenazi Jews in the early 20th century. Previous archaeological investigations found evidence of intact archaeological resources within the project area dating from the 18th to 20th centuries. In addition to providing evidence of patterns of Annapolis’ historical urbanization, several features excavated in the course of this project have shed light on the development of public space within this working class neighborhood. These features include a corduroy or log road dating to the first quarter of the 18th century; what is believed to be a Yoruba ritual bundle dating to the first quarter of the 18th century; and a series of city improvements (i.e. curbs, sidewalks, and a public well) dating from the 18th through 20th centuries. A high degree of archaeological integrity at all three sites has the potential to add considerable knowledge concerning both Annapolis city development, and an ethnically diverse working class community. All three sites are eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D. Because of the integrity and uniqueness of the archaeological record within the project area, it is recommended that further archaeological research be done. Included within this recommendation is the need to process flotation and macrobotanical samples recovered in the fieldItem Report on Archaeological Investigations Conducted at the St. Mary's Site (18AP45), 107 Duke of Gloucester Street, Annapolis, Maryland, 1987-1990(2002) Leone, Mark P.; Palus, Matthew M.; Kryder-Reid, Elizabeth B.; Bailey-Goldschmidt, Janice; Mullins, Paul R.; Warner, Mark; Worden, Robert L.In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Archaeology in Annapolis was invited to excavate the Carroll House and garden on 107 Duke of Gloucester Street in Annapolis, Maryland. The site, named the St. Mary's Site (18AP45) for the Catholic church on the property, is currently owned by the Redemptorists, a Roman Catholic congregation of priests and brothers who have occupied the site since 1852. Prior to the Redemptorists' tenure, the site was owned by the Carroll family from 1701-1852 and is perhaps best known as the home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), signer of the Declaration of Independence. Excavations at the site were conducted during four consecutive summer seasons from 1987-1990. The investigation focused on three research questions. The first line of inquiry were questions surrounding the dating, architectural configuration, and artifact deposits of the "frame house," a structure adjoining the west wall of the brick Carroll House via a "passage" and later a three story addition. The frame house was partially demolished in the mid-nineteenth century but the construction was thought to pre-date the brick portion of the house. The second research question was spurred by documentary research which indicated that the property might have been the location of Proctor's Tavern, a late 17th-century tavern which served as the meeting place of the Maryland Provincial Assembly. Archaeological testing hoped to determine its location and, if found, investigate Annapolis' early Euro-American occupation. The third research question focused on the landscape of the site as it was shaped by its occupants over the past three hundred years. The research questions included investigating the stratigraphy, geometry, and architectural and planting features of Charles Carroll of Carrollton's terraced garden built during the 1770s, and investigating the changes to the landscape made by the Redemptorists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While no structural evidence associated with Proctor’s Tavern was uncovered during limited excavations along Spa Creek, the historic shore of Spa Creek was identified, buried beneath deep fill deposits laid down during construction of the Carroll Garden. Features and deposits associated with this period likely remain intact in a waterlogged environment along the southeastern sea wall at the St. Mary’s Site. Evidence of extensive earth moving by Carroll is present in the garden and was identified during excavation and coring. This strongly suggests that the garden landscape visible at the St. Mary’s Site is the intact Carroll Garden, which survives beneath contemporary and late nineteenth century strata. The extant surviving garden should be considered highly sensitive to ground-disturbing activities, and is also highly significant considering demonstrable associations with the Carroll family. Other garden-related features were also discovered, including planting holes, and a brick pavilion or parapet located along Spa Creek to the south of the site. The Duke of Gloucester Street wall was shown to be associated with the Carroll occupation of the site. Finally, intensive archaeological research was directed at the vicinity of a frame house constructed and occupied by the Carrolls to the east of the existing brick house, which was replaced by the Redemptorists in the nineteenth century with a greenhouse. These superimposed buildings were documented in detail and remain highly significant features at the St. Mary’s Site.