Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18AG215 Lonaconing
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
Site 18AG215 is the downtown historic district in the town of Lonaconing in Allegany County. The site (and town) is situated within the George’s Creek valley, which is situated along the western toe of Dan’s Mountain within the George’s Creek drainage. The landscape has been extensively modified from its natural state by occupation during the historic period.
Lonaconing was developed in the 1830's as a company town for the George's Creek Coal and Iron Company. By 1881, Lonaconing's Main Street had become the commercial core of a thriving town. On September 7, 1881 a fire destroyed most of the commercial district. The fire spread over a ten acre area, and, by one account, 53 buildings were destroyed. Soon after the fire, the current downtown streetscape began to develop over the ruins of the burnt town center. No late 19th century pre-fire town plan is known to exist.
The George’s Creek Coal and Iron Company, a syndicate with stockholders in Baltimore and London, was founded in 1837 by John Alexander and Philip Tyson. Its skilled labor force, many of whom came from the British Isles and Germany, included carpenters, blacksmiths, a wheelwright, stone masons, common laborers, and a lime burner. As outlined in an 1836 prospectus, the company’s ambitious development plans envisioned constructing four iron furnaces, an iron foundry, a merchant mill, a superintendent’s house, four manager and clerk’s houses, accommodations for 400 workers and their families, horse-drawn and steam railroads, and appurtenant structures on the Potomac River and the C & O Canal. The reality, however, was somewhat less expansive. Only one furnace ever was placed in blast, and it operated only between 1837 and ca. 1855. At its height (1837-1844), the charcoal-fueled furnace operation employed about 260 people, turned out between 60 and 75 tons of pig iron per week, and cast items such as stoves, farm tools, and hardware for the C & O Canal. However, competition from cheaper imported iron and the “almost total” inaccessibility of the works rendered continued iron production unprofitable. Following cessation of the furnace operations, the company concentrated entirely on producing coal.
The enterprise’s final annual report featured a survey map of the company’s combined properties within the George’s Creek valley that depicted Lonaconing as the company’s principal town. By that date, Lonaconing already had become a complex village that clustered along George’s Creek and its main thoroughfare, which corresponds to today’s MD 36. The ca. 1839 map depicts the most significant buildings, including the company’s blast furnace, warehouse, sawmill, and what is likely the superintendent’s house, all occupying the floodplain of the creek. Smaller individual structures, likely worker’s housing, occupied the steep slopes overlooking the creek valley. One of the principal features portrayed on the map was a mill race that provided power for both the blast furnace and a sawmill. This feature diverted water from George’s Creek just north of town, cut across the main road, continued south adjacent to the furnace , and then cut across the main road once more to a discharge point at the intersection of Koontz Run and George’s Creek. Just before its discharge point, the race appears to run through the middle of a building. This likely was the company’s sawmill. Because the map carries no labels, its use to identify other specific structures is limited, save for the furnace itself and the mill races.
The correspondence files of the George’s Creek Coal and Iron Company provide additional details on the structures owned by the company in Lonaconing as well as references to several ancillary buildings. The records reveal the presence of a two-storey company store built ca. 1839, a three storey sawmill built ca. 1839, a stable near the sawmill, a large “shanty” that may have been the company store prior to 1839, and a church at the mouth of Koontz Run opposite the mill race. The earliest workers’ houses are described as being of hewn log construction with exterior stone chimneys. A letter dated 1845 laid out specifications for new, more substantial, workers’ housing. All of this company infrastructure is thought to have been situated north of Koontz Run as most of the area south of that is purported to have been cleared fields.
The 1880s brought two disasters to Lonaconing (one man-made and one natural) both of which had implications for the site. The first, of course, was the fire of 1881. Three years later in 1884, a particularly devastating flood also hit the town. This event reportedly swept away small buildings and moved many larger ones off of their foundations. The landscape of the town was changed dramatically by these two events, with debris being demolished and fill being brought in to areas to create buildable surfaces. A new downtown landscape began to emerge.
Early 20th century photographs and Sanborn fire insurance maps provide evidence that some attempts had been made by the early 20th century to contain Koontz Run within retaining walls on its east and west banks. Some support for the stream bank was provided by unmortared walls composed of large river boulders. Scrutiny of the Sanborn maps for 1906 and 1921 show that the Koontz Run stream bed had indeed narrowed considerably between those dates. As time went on, however, those early 20th century flood walls apparently did not provide adequate protection for the properties along Koontz Run, and new walls were installed by the WPA during the 1930s. The infrastructure changes allowed the downtown area to develop into its modern form.
Phase I archival background research and archaeological investigations in an area that was to be affected by streetscape improvements in the late 1990s identified surfaces and deposits as well as architectural features that pre-dated the 1881 fire. Follow-up data recovery focused on resources along the west side of Main Street where there had been fewer disturbances from utilities within the burned zone.
Thirty-three units were excavated in three areas between the street and the storefronts during the 1990s streetscape improvement project. The units ranged in size between 1.524 X 1.524 meters and 1.524 X 2.134 meters (5 X 5 ft and 5 X 7 ft), depending on the width of the present sidewalk.
Numerous soil matrices and architectural features relating to the development of the west side of Main Street were identified throughout the project area. Soil matrices included ground surfaces, fill deposits, debris form the 1881 fire, and construction and destruction rubble. Architectural features consisted of foundations, municipal drains, and street paving. The data were grouped into 6 phases based on the combined analysis of artifacts, stratigraphy, and historic documentation. Each phase is made up of several strata and/or architectural features related to each other by age or event type.
The prehistoric phase was only identified in Area 2 (the center of the site) and consisted of a paleosol remnant containing Late Archaic artifacts. These consisted of 1 chert Orient Fishtail point, 1 rhyolite Susquehanna Broadspear, 11 chert flakes, 1 utilized/retouched chert flake, and 1 Jasper flake.
Phase I represents the pre-fire historic occupation, including street pavings, remnant occupation surfaces, municipal drains, and architectural features. While examples of such pre-fire features were found scattered throughout the site, pre-fire artifacts were only recovered in Area 2. These consisted of 66 architectural items, amongst which were 29 window glass fragments, 35 metal fragments (mostly nails), and 2 bits of architectural stone. Two clothing items were recovered, 1 porcelain and 2 metal buttons. Four unspecified biological items, 5 bottle glass fragments, 3 whiteware sherds, 1 ironstone sherd, and 1 unidentified burned ceramic sherd make up the kitchen assemblage. Activity items included 2 ceramic marbles, 1 flower pot sherd, 4 bits of lamp glass, and a “frozen Jenny” doll. Not far from the doll and marbles, the only personal item was recovered (a small ring). These are probably the personal possessions of an individual child, given their context. Fifteen fragments of ceramic smoking pipes and stems were recovered along with 14 additional glass fragments and 34 scraps of unidentifiable metal.
Phase II is a thin strata relating to the September 7th, 1881 conflagration. Phase II was only recognizable in Area 1, the southern portion of the site. It is thought that clean-up and leveling activities in the other areas resulted in the removal of fire-related soils there. Six hundred ninety-six artifacts were recovered from the fire-associated deposits. Within the artifact collection, 82 artifacts, including unidentifiable metal, glass, and bone, were placed in a miscellaneous category. The architectural assemblage consists (again) of mostly nails and plate glass). Twenty-six bits of architectural stone, 163 pieces of glass, and 266 metal fragments make up the architectural assemblage. Four porcelain buttons are the only articles of clothing encountered. The kitchen assemblage contained 75 table and kitchen glass fragments, 8 botanical remains, and 32 ceramic sherds (13 ironstone, 13 whiteware, 3 yelloware, 1 domestic brown stoneware, 1 domestic grey stoneware, and 1 unidentified). The only personal object recovered was a coin. Twenty four ceramic tobacco pipe fragments and 1 rubber pipe part were found. And finally, activity items consisted of 8 fragments of lamp glass, 4 ceramic marbles, 1 wooden paintbrush, and 1 battery part.
Phase III contains strata interpreted as destruction debris and fill associated with the razing of the burnt town. The architectural assemblage consisted of 31 ceramic objects, 1211 shards of plate glass, 3183 metal fragments (mostly nails), and 79 pieces of architectural stone. Clothing included 3 shell, 9 porcelain, 1 bone, 1 rubber, and 2 metal buttons. A metal pin and a metal fastener were also found. Two unidentified ceramic objects, 1 ceramic drawer pull, 2 metal drawer pulls, and a metal lock were interpreted as furniture components. The kitchen assemblage was quite large and consisted of 7 biological items, 1597 ceramic sherds (8 domestic brown stoneware, 286 domestic grey stoneware, 110 industrial stoneware, 1049 ironstone, 10 miscellaneous stoneware, 12 whiteware, 46 yelloware, 4 redware, 13 hard-paste porcelain, 1 soft-paste porcelain, 58 unidentified), 809 table and kitchen glass fragments, and 16 metal pieces. Personal artifacts recovered included 8 pencils (5 slate), 2 mirror fragment, 2 pieces of metal jewelry, 1 comb, 3 coins, and 4 pieces of pencil slate. One hundred thirty-four fragments of tobacco pipes were recovered. Activity items from this phase included 1 automobile battery fragment, 37 flower pot sherds, 26 ceramic marbles (18 recovered from the same provenience), 73 pieces of lamp glass, 1 horse shoe, 2 metal washers, 1 iron stake, and 1 metal tool. A center-fire rifle cartridge and a bullet fragment were also excavated (in separate contexts). Numerous miscellaneous objects were also reported. This assemblage consisted of 16 biological items, 3 ceramic objects, 1037 melted glass pieces, 1988 metal objects (mostly large ferrous clumps), 1 stone, and 1 plastic object.
Phase IV deposits are associated with the rebuilding of Lonaconing and its late-nineteenth century occupations. Many of the features encountered relate to the foundations of the new street front and a cobble sidewalk. Such features were uncovered throughout most of the site, but significant artifacts only cam from Areas 1 and 2, the southern and northern portions of the site. Architectural items include 1 unidentified ceramic object, 87 pieces of plate glass, 349 fragments of metal (mostly nails), and 8 pieces of stone. Clothing items (2 porcelain buttons, 1 metal button, 1 metal pin, and part of a corset) were only recovered in the southern portion of the site. Furniture items included 1 ceramic and 2 metal drawer pulls. The kitchen assemblage from Phase IV includes 11 biological items, 105 ceramic sherds (3 domestic brown stoneware, 9 domestic grey stoneware, 2 red stoneware, 24 industrial stoneware bottle, 14 whiteware, 41 ironstone, 3 redware, 3 yelloware, 5 hard-paste porcelain, and 1 unidentified), and 276 bits of kitchen or table glass, and 25 metal kitchen objects. Personal items were only found in the southern portion of the site and included an eye glass lens and a slate pencil. Two rim-fire cartridges were found in this same area. Sixty-two ceramic tobacco pipe fragments were excavated in both areas, but the vast majority (59) came from the southern area. Activity items consisted of 1 ceramic marble, 1 ceramic doll part, 27 fragments of lamp glass, 1 piece of wire, and 1 piece of unidentified metal. And finally, a number of miscellaneous objects were uncovered. Most of these were unidentifiable glass fragments (50 objects) and metal (309). Thirteen biological objects and 2 ceramic pieces were also excavated.
Phase V deposits were related to modern architectural and streetscape elements.
Additional work was conducted at 18AG215 in 2010 and 2011 for the replacement of Bridge No. 01166 on MD 36 over Koontz Run. The project area encompassed a residential lot located at 53-55 Main Street and situated within the Lonaconing Historic District. Known as the Kidwell Parcel (or Locus A), the lot contained a two-storey duplex constructed ca. 1890. The research was undertaken on behalf of the State Highway Administration (SHA), Maryland Department of Transportation, whose endeavors are subject to both Section 106 and related state laws which mandate consideration of archeological resources when public monies are expended. As a component of this research, additional archival investigations were carried out focusing on the 53-55 Main Street property.
In 1889, following the fire and flooding of that decade, the lot was purchased by Mary Hadley (who owned the adjoining lot) from the trustees for the local German Lutheran Church. It is thought that prior to the introduction of large quantities of fill following the fire and subsequent flood, the northern half of the lot at 53-55 Main Street was not buildable. The introduction of fill created a stable construction site and Mary Hadley saw the purchase as a wise investment and began developing the lot.
In 1900, the first census year for which information is available, Mary Ann Hadley, her adopted son Harry, and Mary’s mother and father, Thomas and Mary Probert, lived in the single dwelling at #51 East Main Street in Lonaconing. Mary’s brother Henry Probert, a coal miner, apparently was renting one-half (#53) of a duplex owned by his sister, while Adam Thompson, a Scottish preacher, resided in the other (#55) with his family. The listing that followed that of the Thompson residence was for Joseph Bauman, a saloon keeper, whose large family included Annie Kimpel, Bauman’s 59-year old mother-in-law. Bauman owned his own property on East Main Street.
By 1910, Mary Hadley had moved from her East Main Street home to Scotch Hill, where she resided with Harry and his new wife Maud. Mary’s brother and his family also lived at Scotch Hill. The three dwellings on Main Street (the single home at #51 and the duplex at #53-55) all were rented, but it was not possible to ascertain definitively the families who were Mary’s tenants given that the 1910 Census did not list house numbers on Main Street. Attempts made to track the tenants and neighbors in 1900 netted meager results , although they did show that the remaining members of the Bauman family continued to own and occupy a dwelling on East Main Street, where the now 69 year-old Annie Kimpel headed a household that was comprised entirely of her three youngest grandchildren. Within one household away from Kimpel, the 1910 census shows three consecutive rented dwellings that could represent Mary Hadley’s properties. The tenants in these three dwellings were: Walter Stevenson (a dry goods salesman) and his wife, Lewis Newton (a school professor) and his wife and daughter, and Oliver Durst (a hardware store clerk) and his family.
Once Mary Hadley was deceased in 1919, other players became critical in determining the fate of the dwellings between 51 and 55 East Main Street. Chief among these individuals were the members of the Hadley and Probert families, and the ensuing events that involves these players read somewhat like a soap opera script. Esther Dobbs and her husband Luke were Mary Anne Hadley’s sister and brother-in-law. They apparently emigrated to the United States from England at least five years before the rest of the Probert family, and initially settled in Midlothian Mines, near the town of Frostburg. It is possible that their influence was instrumental in convincing the rest of the Probert family to emigrate to western Maryland in 1880. By 1910, Esther and Luke Dobbs had moved to Pittsburgh, where Esther continued to reside through the 1920s.
Flora Probert, Mary Hadley’s niece, must have been particularly close to her aunt, for she appears to have lived in Mary’s house at some time and was named executrix of Mary Hadley’s will. Flora (Florrie) married William B. McCrorie, a native of Cumberland, probably around 1913. The couple and their two children shifted locations frequently, living in Cumberland, West Virginia, and Baltimore for periods of time.
Harry Hadley, Mary Ann Hadley’s adopted son, was the eye of the storm that swirled around his mother’s properties, even before her death in February 1919. Mary’s will provided generously for her adopted son. To him, she originally bequeathed an annual payment of $100 taken from “money on-hand or from personal securities”, all furniture in her house, and a life interest in her combined properties on Main Street. After Harry’s death, Hadley’s real estate holdings were to be divided equally between Harry’s heirs, Flora McCrorie, and Esther Dobbs. However, relationships between mother and son apparently deteriorated over the ensuing years, for in 1917, Mary Hadley attached a codicil to her will that effectively deprived Harry of direct control over properties and money. Instead, she stipulated that the former bequest of $100 annual payments was to go instead to Flora, her niece/named executrix, to be placed in an interest-bearing account to support the maintenance of the properties. Further, Harry’s life interest in the properties was revoked. Instead, Esther and Flora were to share equally in the properties along with Harry’s children (provided that they were raised in the Protestant faith).
Notwithstanding the intent of the codicil, Esther Dobbs and Flora McCrorie reinstated Harry’s life interest in Mary Anne Hadley’s properties shortly after her death in February of 1919. The deed stipulated that Harry was to retain all income from renting the properties, and was to use that money to “maintain and keep in good repair said properties”. Presumably “property maintenance” included the payment of all taxes due and retention of appropriate insurance coverage, in addition to general repairs and upkeep. The 1920 census found Harry Hadley, a coal miner, occupying the single dwelling at #51 Main Street, together with his wife and (at the time) five children. The two halves of the duplex were rented to coal miners Frank Duckworth (#53) and Fred Boden (#55) and their respective families. The rent on each dwelling was $12 per month.
By 1928, however, as it became apparent that Harry Hadley had failed to “maintain and keep in good repair” those properties, Esther Dobbs, Flora McCrorie, and William McCrorie became convinced that the resulting decline in value was detrimental to their financial interests. Together, they sued Harry to force him to relinquish his control (although the court also appointed a guardian to protect the financial interests of Harry’s [now] 10 minor children, also named as defendants in the case). The various papers filed in support of the complaint offer details about the conditions of the Main Street dwellings. State, local, and county tax bills for the period from 1924 to 1928 had not been paid. The unpaid bills, showing significant interest charges, were offered in evidence as Exhibit 1. Most telling was the deposition of Flora McCrorie, who described the single dwelling (#51) as “very run-down (with) windows and doors broken and loose plaster”. McCrorie also testified that the duplex next door sorely needed painting, but that she could not see conditions inside. Henry Hadley apparently never showed in court, despite a summons demanding his appearance, and the court returned a judgment against him and in favor of the plaintiffs in August 1928.
Almost immediately, Esther Dobbs filed an (amicable) case against Flora and William McCrorie to permit the combined properties to be sold at auction and the proceeds divided equally among the parties to the suit. The papers associated with this case included a petition to re-survey all lots, the advertisement for the sale in the Cumberland newspapers, and receipts showing that Esther Dobbs paid all back taxes and unpaid court costs out of the first payment on the sale, which took place in Cumberland in September 1928.
At the sale, David and Mary Miller purchased the duplex, living in the #53 residence and renting the other half to Frederick Bowden, now employed as a church sexton. James B. McAlpine, the 52 year-old proprietor of a clothing store, bought the single dwelling at #51 Main Street. The 1930 census shows that he lived elsewhere, but rented that house to William Booker, a public school teacher. Court papers filed along with the documents in the Dobbs vs. McCrorie case also included a petition from James McAlpine for a writ of Habere Facias Possessionem, dated February 1929, against Harry Hadley. Two months later, after Hedley refused both to appear in court and to vacate the dwelling, the court issued the requested writ and ordered the sheriff to forcibly remove Hadley from the property.
Sanborn Fire Insurance maps between 1892 and 1906 depict several small ancillary structures in the backyards of #51-55 East Main Street. These structures do not appear on the Sanborn map for 1921, indicating that they were demolished sometime between 1906 and 1921. The fact that Sanborn actually assigned house numbers to those dwellings on the 1897 and 1906 maps suggests that they may have served as dwellings, but there is no way of confirming this hypothesis. Some indication of what those structures were like can be gleaned from an early 20th century photograph of Koontz Run which is angled in such a way as to show what appears to be a privy within the backyard of Lot #55. It also shows the aforementioned un-mortared stone retaining walls along Koontz Run.
During the Lonaconing Streetscape Improvements project (described above), archeological work was confined to the 15 locations along MD 36 where sidewalk would be removed and replaced. Sidewalk replacement in front of Locus A of 18AG215 (#53-55 Main Street) encompassed an approximately 21.7 m (71.2 ft) long section of concrete sidewalk, of which 9.4 linear m (31 linear feet) was examined archeologically. Excavation areas used an orientation of 37° magnetic as grid north, and employed a standard unit measurement of 1.5 X 1.5 m (5 X 5 ft).
During the 2010/2011 study, a new survey grid using an orientation of 47° magnetic as grid north was established. This grid orientation paralleled the orientation of the residence at 53-55 Main Street, but did not parallel any of the property lines, the WPA-era retaining wall, or MD 36 (Main Street). A new datum was established and the locations of all 2010/2011 shovel test pits (STPs) and test units were referenced to the datum and all test units were oriented along the alignment of the testing grid.
In total, 23 shovel tests, measuring 40 cm in diameter, and 29 test units, measuring 1 X 1 m in dimension, were excavated during the study of Locus A of 18AG215. Seven shovel tests were placed in a northern side yard, adjacent to the WPA-era retaining wall at 10 m intervals. The remaining 16 STPs were placed in the west/rear yard at 5 m intervals. Shovel tests were not placed along the southern edge of the study area due to the presence of a marked, buried water line, or in the eastern/front yard due to insufficient space between the front porch of the structure and the MD 36 sidewalk. STPs measured 40 cm in diameter and were excavated to a minimum depth of 10 cm into sterile soil or until obstructions prevented further excavation. All soils were removed according the natural stratigraphic horizons and screened through hardware mesh. Shovel test results, including the presence or absence of cultural materials and features, stratigraphic sequences, and location of each STP within the testing pattern were recorded on standardized forms.
The 29 formal test units included 16 placed in the west/rear yard of the structure, 6 were excavated in the east/front yard, and 7 were placed within the footprint of the structure following its demolition. Due to constraints encountered in the field, some of the units within the structure had to be terminated and 2 informal, mechanically-excavated trenches were utilized within each half of the former duplex as a substitute. In addition, mechanical excavations within the rear porch area of the duplex were monitored. Test unit excavation preceded in 10 cm arbitrary levels within the natural stratigraphy. In areas where a modern disturbance horizon was present, that stratum was removed in a single natural level. All excavated soil was screened through hardware mesh. Test units were excavated to a minimum depth of 10 cm into the historic bed of Koontz Run, or until a depth of 1.2 m was reached. Although not technically subsoil, the bed of Koontz Run comprised re-deposited, scoured material that (due to the nature and dynamics of high velocity flood events) offered no potential for intact buried cultural resources predating the historic 1881 flood event. Standard recordation during unit excavation included excavation level forms, unit summary forms, stratigraphic profiles, photographs, and plan drawings when warranted by the presence of features. All test units were also documented using digital and black and white photography.
The 2010/2011 data recovery for the bridge replacement yielded 7,654 historic cultural materials. Notable materials recovered during the project included 4 synthetic battery cores, 888 cut nails, 795 wire nails, 34 Prosser buttons, 1 creamware sherd, 45 whiteware sherds, 642 ironstone sherds, 4 British ironstone sherds, 8 yelloware sherds, 6 Rockingham sherds, 11 domestic gray stoneware sherds, 24 buff-bodied stoneware sherds, 126 machine-made glass fragments, 1 molded glass fragment, 41 solarized (manganese) glass fragments, 6 crown caps, and 6 pieces of Bakelite. The remaining materials are categorized in the table above as miscellaneous objects.
Demolition of the superstructure of 53-55 Main Street definitively revealed that the house had been shifted back on its foundation and a new partial foundation poured beneath the rear half of the building. A cellar beneath the modern front porch had been filled during the mid 20th century and originally underlay the front half of the building. Deep stratified and non-stratified deposits of ash, cinder, and coal dust in the rear yard were deposited in the first half of the 20th century and represent the filling in of the original floodplain and creek bed of Koontz Run. An early 20th century stone flood control wall revealed along the northern edge of the property was replaced ca. 1937 by the current WPA-era flood control wall. Extensive disturbance along this wall and around the house dates from this period. Based upon archeological and archival evidence, it now appears that the house was shifted back as part of the WPA-era flood control project.
Although there was clear evidence of intact stratigraphic sequences in most portions of Locus A of Site 18AG215, those sequences reflected 20th century filling of the creek bed of Koontz Run to create the present day landscape. No intact cultural deposits underlay the 20th century fill materials, which lay directly on alluvial sediment or on the natural cobble bed of Koontz Run. The cobble bed itself yielded a sufficient quantity of historic material to suggest the dense cobble material comprising the stream bed was laid down during the mid-late 19th century during a high-velocity flood event. The house at 53-55 Main Street itself had been constructed on the cobble bed and had originally included two side-entrance doors to access the cellar. This indicated that the original grade during the late 19th century had been at least 1.5 m lower than present day. By the early 1940s, the landscape had been filled up to within 30 cm of its present grade. The final fill material was added during the 1980s. As imported fill material, these deposits did not provide any information necessary to address research questions concerning the historic occupation of Locus A, or its role in the 1881 Lonaconing business district fire.
Site 18AG215 was determined eligible for listing in the National Register under Criterion d in 1997. Although the result of work in Locus A of the site encountered primarily 20th century fill deposits that are not useful for interpretive purposes, the earlier Phase I work and data recovery demonstrated that intact late 19th and early 20th century deposits are present throughout other portions of the site. These resources relate to a period of tremendous growth in Lonaconing’s history that included substantial improvements to the town’s infrastructure, as well as the town’s incorporation in 1890. The site should still be considered a significant archeological resource.
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