Test Excavations at Gott's Court, Annapolis, Maryland

Abstract

In the summer of 1989 Archaeology in Annapolis undertook three weeks of archaeological testing in a parking lot in the Historic District of Annapolis located to the immediate west of Church Circle. The property was scheduled to be destroyed by the construction of a below-ground parking garage. Historical research on the area had indicated that property to have been occupied since the mid 18th-century. The primary purpose of test excavations was to determine the integrity of the archaeological remains below the modern asphalt surface. Results of the excavations indicated that significant archaeological deposits remained from Gott's Court, the early 20th century occupation of the property by working-class African Americans. There was also strong evidence to suggest substantial deposits from earlier occupations of the area. Unfortunately, constraints upon the archaeologists' access to the property did not allow for a more thorough study of that aspect of the site's occupation.