Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18FR82 Rose Hill Manor
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
Rose Hill Manor (18FR82) is a National Register listed site located on the north edge of Frederick, Maryland. Originally built as a residence in the late 18th century (ca. 1790-1795), Rose Hill Manor is currently operated as a children’s museum. The manor house and ground occupy an area of approximately 40 acres. The house was built by the daughter and son-in-law of Thomas Johnson, Maryland's first elected governor. Johnson retired to Rose Hill Manor during the last years of his life. The main block of the brick structure is five bays wide, 2 1/2-stories high, with a 2-story pedimented portico covering the central three bays of the south elevation. A three-bay-wide wing is attached to the west side of the house. Soils within the area are well-drained Duffield silt loams, which are extremely productive agricultural soils.
The earliest reported archeological work conducted at the site was carried out by personnel from Frederick Community College. Beginning in 1970 and continuing until 1973, students enrolled in summer courses in introductory archeology carried out the investigations under the direction of anthropology professors Carle P. Graffunder and Marguerite H. Smith. The scope of work consisted of a Phase I identification survey, with the purpose of determining the location and nature of the outbuildings. Unfortunately, nearly all documentation from this work has been lost.
The first documented excavations were conducted in 2000, when the Frederick County Bureau of Parks and Recreation (the principal organization responsible for the management of Rose Hill Manor) planned to improve aspects of the current maintenance system at the site. Plans called for the installation of a new subsurface drainage system and masonry rehabilitation to be performed by the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center. Testing research was carried out by researchers from the National Parks Service’s Archeology Program at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park to identify and evaluate archeological resources in the proposed area for the new drainage system.
It was determined that an appropriate strategy for conducting the investigation would consist of the excavation of seven 1.2192 X 1.2192 meter (4 ft X 4 ft) test units around the foundation and the excavation of shovel test pits at 4.572 meter (15 foot) intervals or less in the area of the drain discharge line trench. With regard to excavation unit size, the 1.2192 meter square units were considered large enough to allow excavation to proceed to the necessary depth (i.e. sterile soil at the base of the foundation) as well as to fully expose any features in the area of the proposed disturbance. The shovel test pits measured approximately 0.4 meters in diameter and were excavated into sterile subsoil. When significant cultural materials were encountered, additional shovel tests were placed 1.524 meters (5 ft) in both directions along the linear route of the trench in order to determine the horizontal distribution of the artifacts and/or features. In total, 21 shovel test untis were excavated. All excavations followed the cultural and natural strata and all strata thicker than 0.1524 meters (0.5 ft) were subdivided into arbitrary levels. All soils were screened.
Nine subsurface features were recorded during testing. Of particular significance are Features 3 and 6, the remains of entrances that allowed access to the full cellar beneath the main block of the house. These two doorways were located on the east and west sides of the house. The doors were subsequently converted to windows and the areaways were filled with brick rubble. Although nearly all of the overlying deposits in the project area exhibit later disturbances and the artifacts were recovered from mixed contexts, the areaway features do retain a high degree of integrity and thus contribute to the site's demonstrated architectural significance.
Artifacts recovered during testing include 2,593 architectural objects such as 476 nails (only 18 are hand-forged), 2012 fragments of window glass, 82 pieces of hardware, and 23 other architectural items. The hardware and other architectural materials groups were represented by such objects as screws, nuts, tacks, copper sheeting, hinges, and a door latch. A total of 848 kitchen-related items were excavated, including 407 ceramic sherds, 344 fragments of bottle/container glass, and 97 faunal remains. The kitchen ceramics include 4 white salt-glazed stoneware sherds, 3 agatewares, 38 creamware sherds, 121 pearlware sherds, 112 whiteware sherds, 20 porcelain, 9 yelloware, 12 refined redware, 1 majolica, 10 stoneware sherds, 1 Alexandria Gray sherd, 59 red paste earthenware, and 17 other unidentifiable earthenware sherds. In addition to the items enumerated above, 185 miscellaneous or unidentified items were also recovered.
In 2005 the site was again revisited as part of a Phase I survey prior to planned improvement at the Rose Hill Manor consisting of the enlargement of the existing visitor parking lot southwest of the main building, and widening of the maintenance access road and lot to allow for more parking. The survey consisted of 54 shovel test pits, excavated at 15 meter intervals with 7.5 meter retests. The artifact scatter identified in Area A (west of the parking lot located west of the mansion) was rectangular, approximately 55 meters from north to south and 50 meters east to west. Area B consisted of a single transect of shovel tests placed along the north side of a curving driveway and parking area for a maintenance building on the north part of the property.
The artifacts recovered in Area A were a mixture of 18th, 19th, and 20th century artifacts (with the exception of one prehistoric jasper flake). Sixteen brick, 2 coal, and 11 window glass fragments were also recovered, as was 1 nail and 18 fragments of bottle and vessel glass. The majority of the artifacts were kitchen ceramic, including 1 piece each of ironstone, porcelain, and yellowware, 10 fragments of whiteware, 7 pearlware, and 5 creamware. Five fragments of red-bodied earthenware and 4 of indeterminate earthenware were also recovered.
Of the 12 shovel tests placed in Area B, only two were positive for artifacts. In addition, a circular brick feature was observed between the easternmost positive shovel test and the door to an adjacent barn. A delineation test placed north of the positive test here was negative for artifacts. The artifacts from Area B consist of 3 fragments of sewer pipe, 2 fragments of milk glass, one screw, one staple, and one piece of wire, all from the shovel test in front of the barn. The positive test located north of the current parking lot, near the western end of the transect, produced a whiteware sherd. A delineation test placed nearby yielded nothing. No additional archeological investigations were recommended for these areas of the site.
The more extensive excavations conducted at 18FR82 (the Phase II work) resulted in the recovery of small amounts of historic period artifacts dating from the late 18th century to the present. The artifact types were of a limited functional diversity, the majority representing architectural functions. Furthermore, a large number of the artifacts recovered came from soil horizons that exhibit characteristics of disturbance. The original topsoil in many cases was mottled with clayey base soils. Such soil mixing and possible redeposition produces artifacts from archeological unreliable contexts. Only the lower strata from a single excavation unit were found to be undisturbed and these deposits yielded low densities of historic period artifacts. While some broad interpretations of the site may be drawn from what remains, the testing of specific hypotheses dependent upon unaltered contexts and provenience can not be accomplished.
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