Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18AP84 Dunn
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Dunn Site (18AP84) is the location of a series of commercial buildings occupied, more or less continuously, from the 18th through the 20th century. The site is situated near the intersection of Calvert and West Streets in the downtown area of the National Historic Landmark of the City of Annapolis. The site includes the rear portions of the 44 West Street property and associated City property including an alley and parking area. By the time the site was first examined archeologically in the year 2000, no native vegetation was present due to many years of intensive development. Historically, it can be assumed that the native vegetation of the site included typical trees of the Central Hardwood Forest Region: oaks, maples, and sweetgum to name a few. Soils at the site are Collington and Wist sandy loams as well as some human transported soils.
The Dunn site is situated on a property originally recorded as “Lot 67”. Lot 67’s history goes back to the third survey of Annapolis conducted by James Stoddert in 1718. This lot, along with lots 69 and 71, was surveyed by Stoddert for Charles Carroll, Esq. Carroll formally retained ownership of Lot 67 until selling it to Archibald Golder in 1795, but had been bound to sell the property to his father, John Golder, who’s dwelling and store occupied the lot as early as 1760. However, the title was not conveyed until 1795, thirty years after John Golder died of mushroom poisoning.
Records of the 1781-1782 Council of Maryland show that, in 1782, Captain Archibald Golder was appointed to “provide quarters for the French Army, on their march through and during their stay in this state and to procure wagons, carts, teams, and drivers, vessels and hands for the carriage and transportation of their baggage through the state. As a provisioner, Golder would have scoured the area for housing and transportation, possibly offering his own accommodations, but also seeking donations or purchasing goods and services from his neighbors. It is unclear whether Golder billeted French troops on Lot 67 or elsewhere in Annapolis.
After obtaining ownership of the lot in 1795, Archibald Golder operated a tavern on it, originally called the “Pennsylvania Farmer” and then “Mount Vernon”, also referred to as the “Sign of the Waggon and Horse”. The 1798 Federal Direct Tax describes Golder’s property as consisting of one acre of land with a two storey frame dwelling (32’ X 20’) with two single storey frame additions separated by a passage “in bad repair”. A kitchen, outhouse, stable, and warehouse also are mentioned. As these dimensions and this configuration do not appear to fit with any historic maps of the site, these frame buildings of 1798 probably predate the existing building.
The date of Archibald Golder’s death is unknown but he appears to have withdrawn from the tavern business by 1799. In November of that year, an announcement in the Maryland Gazette advertized that Gottlieb J. Gramer had opened a house of entertainment, “at the Sign of the Pennsylvania Farmer, lately occupied by Mr. A. Golder in West Street”. In 1808, John Golder, acting as trustee for father Archibald’s estate advertised lots 67, 68, and 69 with a tavern occupied by William Glover and several frame buildings for sale. William Glover purchased the house and lot in 1809. In 1811 Golder also sold a frame house and garden, occupied by Jane Galloway, fronting on West Street, and the adjoining brick house of John Hicks.
In 1810, less than a year after purchasing the property from Golder, William Glover died intestate leaving a widow, Eleanor, and five children. Glover’s son-in-law, James Hunter, was appointed the difficult task of administering the estate. As Glover was deeply in debt at the time of his death, Hunter assumed liability. It appears from various archival references that Hunter assumed ownership of the tavern by 1812, although there is no confirming deed. The tax assessments of 1819 listed James Hunter as the presumed owner of one improved lot with dwelling with a total value of $1,200.
It is probable that during the two-year span between Glover’s death and Hunter’s “occupation” of the tavern, the building was rebuilt or renovated to obtain the previously mentioned “improved” status. A plat map filed with an 1812 ejectment case depicts a rectangular building, with no additions, as 40-50 West Street. The structure currently numbered as 40-50 West Street, therefore, with many more recent modifications, might be James Hunter’s tavern.
In addition to running the tavern, James Hunter served as a Justice of the Peace until his death in 1835. His widow, Mary Hunter, continued to keep the tavern until 1837 when she advertised the property for rent. The advertised property included a stable for the accommodation of at least 30 horses, a large yard, and a garden of about one acre.
Jacob McCeney leased the tavern from Mary Hunter until it was advertised for sale by “virtue of a decree of the Orphan’s Court” in an April 1839 issue of the Maryland Gazette. Mary Hunter retained ownership of the property by purchasing it for $1,755. The property is referred to as the “Western Hotel” and described as fronting West Street, and containing several frame buildings with a large stable in tolerable repair. Approximately two years after purchasing it from the Court, in 1841, Mary Hunter sold the property to Benjamin Pindle, Collector of the State Tax in Anne Arundel County. By 1848, Pindle was in debt to the State for large sums of money and his real estate was sold to pay off his creditors. The 40-50 West Street property, including the tavern, was sold to Ann Lambden for $1400 in 1850. Lambden owned nine other properties in addition to her house and lot on West Street.
Upon Lambden’s death, a John I. Mathison inherited the property. John Mathison conveyed the property to Samuel Mathison by deed of gift in 1874. Samuel Mathison and his wife then sold the property to John L. Benjamin for $3,300 in 1880. John L. Benjamin had acquired extensive real estate holdings, including a large section of the block bounded by West and Calvert Streets, before his death in 1899. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of the property during the thirty years from when the property was purchased by Anne Lambden and sold to John Benjamin, enough improvements were done on the property to support the dramatic increase in the purchase price. Businesses on the property included a barber, an ice cream salon, restaurants, lodging, and a grocer.
During the 20th century, the property continued in similar commercial uses, including as a bakery, hotel, clothing store, saloon/bar, wall paper shop, and a dry goods store, as well as some of the previous uses (ice cream shop, etc.). During that time, various additions and slight construction changes were made on the property.
The first documented archeological work to take place at the site occurred in the year 2000. At that time, a developer was proposing the demolition of a series of 20th century additions to the rear of 44 West Street for the construction of modern offices. The pre-20th century frontage of the building would remain, leaving the historic West Street façade intact. However, since the work was being conducted in an archeologically and historically sensitive area, archeological testing was required by the Annapolis Historic Preservation Commission’s Consulting Archeologist. Work was undertaken with the goal of determining if any historically significant deposits remained intact on the project site.
This Phase II testing project entailed a through surface reconnaissance of the site, the judgmental placement of six 2.44 X 0.91 m (8 X 3 ft) backhoe trenches, the excavation of two 1.524 X 1.524 m (5 X 5 ft) test units, and the excavation of one 1.524 X .91 m (5 X 3 ft) test unit.
Surface reconnaissance entailed the location and mapping of extant foundations from demolished outbuildings and other structures that were previously situated on the lot. Artifacts visible on the surface were also mapped and collected. The backhoe trenches were largely exploratory in nature and all six were excavated until an archeological feature or sterile subsoil was encountered. At least one wall profile and the floor plan of each trench were documented with photographs and drawings. A small number of artifacts associated with features, or otherwise considered useful for site dating or interpretation, were collected. Two of the six backhoe trenches were sampled further, with selected strata being screened through hardware cloth for intensive artifact collection.
The backhoe trenches identified intact deposits that warranted further investigation via the excavation of formal test units. Subsurface features encountered during the trenching included a possible posthole and mold, portions of a probable brick oven (circa 1900) and associated brick floor, and a well or cistern or unknown date. Also encountered was a sheet midden which may date to the 18th century, based on content.
The data recovered from the judgmental backhoe trench sampling reflected the high intensity of occupation of the site over the last 200 years. It was felt that there was a medium to high potential for further archeological investigation to uncover intact subsurface features beneath the circa 1900 brick paved floor. Systematic sampling of a sporadic, but possibly site-wide, 18th century artifact-rich layer or sheet midden might also reveal information regarding the taverns which occupied the property in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. However, much of the midden was within the historic courtyard area of the site and, therefore, it was considered unlikely to yield a significant intact deposit beyond that of the midden itself. There was also the possibility of locating a privy in this area and evidence of the possible temporary occupation of the site by French troops in 1782.
The locations of formal test units (see above) were chosen so as to investigate those features encountered in the backhoe trench excavations. All three of the test units were excavated until sterile subsoil was encountered. Up to 30.5 cm (1 ft) of the surface rubble and sane in two of the test units was removed without screening or artifact collection. This layer consisted of entirely of recent demolition debris and re-deposited artifacts. All soils below this demolition rubble were screened through hardware cloth. The presence of oyster, coal, plaster, and brick were noted but these artifacts were not collected. A wall profile and floor plan of each unit was documented with drawings and photographs. The soils of each stratum were described on standardized forms by color, texture, and contents.
Excavation of the test units yielded 7,205 historic artifacts. No prehistoric artifacts were encountered during test unit excavation. Subsurface features encountered in two of the three test units. One of the units revealed what was initially thought to be a builder’s trench (potentially associated with a post-in-ground structure). Upon excavation of this feature, however, it was found to have an ill-defined shape and lack depth, suggesting that it was an erosional feature or a hand-dug trench, but not something designed for wall support. Subsurface features in another unit included a late 19th to early 20th century trench and associated ceramic pipe which bisected the unit from a depth of 45.72 cm – 1.07 m (1.5 – 3.5 ft) below the surface. A variety of features were encountered at a depth of 1.07 m, but due to time constraints, they were not excavated. The aforementioned sheet midden was also identified in the two larger test units. The midden appears to date to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, based on content. No subsurface features were identified in the third test unit.
The full assemblage from the 2000 excavation project (both trenches and test units) consisted of 14 activity items (5 marbles, 1 bone whistle, 3 slate pencil fragments, a metal sprocket, and 4 terra-cotta flowerpots), 1,812 architectural artifacts, 45 clothing items, 1 furniture object (a tack), 5,017 kitchen-related artifacts, 10 personal items (2 toothbrushes, 6 ornaments/beads, and 2 bone combs), 78 white clay tobacco pipe fragments, 2 arms objects (a shotgun shell and lead shot), and 238 miscellaneous objects (3 unidentified stone flakes and unidentified metal). The architectural artifacts were 881 window glass fragments and 931 nails (82 handwrought, 10 cut, 6 wire, and 833 unidentified). Clothing items were 41 buttons (6 bone, 17 glass, 8 metal, 5 plastic, 5 shell), 3 straight pins/thimbles, and a leather fragment. Kitchen-related artifacts were 1,083 ceramic sherds (38 Faience sherds, 231 other tin-glazed earthenware sherds, a North Devon gravel-tempered sherd, 10 Staffordshire slipware, 2 Buckley, 15 Philadelphia trailed earthenware sherds, 27 creamware, 35 pearlware, 4 annularware, 229 whiteware, 189 lead-glazed redware, 49 other redware, 2 unidentified earthenware sherds, 11 ironstone, 86 porcelain, 36 English Brown stoneware, 12 Westerwald stoneware, 94 white salt-glazed stoneware, and 12 miscellaneous stoneware sherds), 1 piece of milk glass, 550 vessel glass fragments, 3,376 faunal objects (2,684 mammal bones, 378 fish bones, 309 bird bones, and 5 turtle bones), and 7 utensils.
In sum, the data recovered from the trench and test unit excavations reflected the high intensity of occupation and use of the site over the last 200 years. There is a high potential for further archeological investigation to uncover intact subsurface features in the less-developed, rear portion of the site. A more extensive and systematic excavation of the property would provide a greater context to the artifact rich late 18th to early 19th century sheet midden. Excavation of those features already identified is likely to reveal 18th century tavern-related artifacts, in a well-preserved state and in highly dateable and undisturbed contexts. Given the importance of taverns in this colonial-cum-state capital city, the historical resources present at the site are of considerable historical significance.
Based on these findings, preservation-in-place was recommended for the site, and careful planning was recommended to minimize the effects of construction. The engineering and architectural firm engaged to design the office facilities was able to create a revised footing plan for the building. Footings were planned for areas that had been archeologically sampled or had a low to medium potential for containing subsurface features. Thus, unexcavated intact subsurface features exposed during the 2000 excavations remain preserved at the site. Site 18AP84 should continue to be considered a significant archeological resource.
|
