Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18ST400 Charlotte Hall Academy
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Charlotte Hall Site (18ST400) is a 5-acre area that encompasses the two earliest (18th and 19th century) buildings that were part of the Charlotte Hall Academy. The site is located in Charlotte Hall, Maryland, St. Mary’s County, within the Charlotte Hall Historic District. This site is situated on the east side of a level upland, west of some natural springs known as "Ye Coole Springs". These form the headwaters of Killpeck Creek. Several other creeks originate in the same upland. The stratigraphy of this site is complex, including features and demolition rubble related to former buildings on the property, and having been disturbed by grading and construction of newer buildings. Soils at the site are well-drained Evesboro sandy loams underlain by sands and gravel. The site has landscaped areas of grass, tress, and shrubs.
The property for Charlotte Hall Academy was purchased from Dent Suite, the descendant of Charles Dent in the late 18th century. The Dent family had occupied the land for several generations suggesting the possibility that a 17th century dwelling existed at the location. There is also some lore that mentions an inn was built by John Dent sometime during the early 17th century near the Coole Springs. An enabling act for the creation of the school had been passed by the provincial legislature as early as 1774. This was to be a new, consolidated school incorporating the free schools of the surrounding counties. Construction was delayed, possibly from interruptions caused by the Revolutionary War. Records indicated that the making and burning of bricks and the burning of lime in a kiln, rather than the delivery of readymade bricks, was requested and the order was to be filled by October 1785. This suggests that a brick-making facility was located at the site. In 1797, the Board of Trustees requested that a person(s) be employed to backfill the clay borrow pits located around the school house.
The first building at Charlotte Hall Academy was finally completed in 1796. Historical documents indicate that the School Hall was constructed of Flemish bond brick, measured 13.41 m X 8.22 m (44x27 feet), and was two stories tall with a basement. A School Room was constructed in 1801, measuring 15.24 m X 7.31 m (50x24 feet), and also two stories tall, probably as an addition onto the 1796 structure. In 1803, the "White House", still extant on the property, was constructed. This is a gambrel-roofed brick house, five bays wide, with flush end chimneys, and with the same dimensions as the School Hall. It was the residence of the school’s principal with one room used for the English school. By 1837, the White House was converted for use as a student dormitory and classroom. In 1843, the School Hall building including the 1801 wing, burned down and the ruins were considered too weak to reconstruct. Records indicate that in 1855 bricks were ordered fired on the property. A new school house, approximately 18.28 m X 7.31 m (60x24 feet) in dimension, was constructed in 1857 and burned down in 1896.
In 1852, the school adopted and gradually developed its military program, requiring more space for athletic fields and parade grounds. Two major buildings, the Dent Memorial Chapel (1883/4) and the Classroom Building (1896) (which was built on top of the 1857 building), were built in the late 19th century. The 1896 Classroom Building was demolished by the Veterans Administration in 1986. Several new buildings were built in the early and mid 20th centuries. The Academy closed in 1976 due to dwindling enrollment and serious financial difficulties when the Maryland Legislature called for the gradual phasing out of scholarship funds for the school. The Maryland Veterans Home Commission acquired the site in 1978.
Background documentary research was done on the property and field investigations were conducted for a total of 7 days in July and October of 1981 ahead of construction of a proposed State Veterans Home at Charlotte Hall. The project area encompassed approximately 3.5 acres. Construction was to include a large building, two parking lots, and a new entrance road onto the property. As part of the Charlotte Hall Historic District, the property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Mitigation was required to determine the potential adverse affects of the proposed work on the historic property. Therefore, the goals were to determine if and where archeological remains were present in the project area, to assess any impacts to those resources, and to make site management recommendations.
A total of 87 shovel test pits (STPs) were dug at 6.096 m (20’) intervals and one 0.609 m X 1.524 m (2’X5’) trench was excavated. Field walking was conducted in area of the southwest wing of the proposed building as surface visibility was extremely good; only modern debris was identified. Potentially significant archeological remains were located only in that part of the project area designated for a new entrance road onto the property. The large trench was placed at that location and STPs were excavated outside of the right-of-way in order to determine the horizontal limits of archeological remains found there and to see if re-routing the road to avoid them was feasible. All soils were screened through ¼” hardware cloth. Not all artifacts encountered were retained (including modern debris, bricks and brick fragments, some nail fragments, animal bone, glass fragments, ceramic sherds, charcoal, and coal).
Evidence for a (modern?) small structure and a former fire hydrant location were encountered in STP 62 at the location of the proposed new Building Site. In the area of the proposed North Parking Lot, an area of ground disturbance encountered in STP 68-71 corresponded to reports that a tobacco barn had at one time been located in that area, which was still standing as recently as 1927. There were no surface signs of a building but chunks of concrete and cut nails were found in the test pits. To the north of that, there was surface evidence of a previous structure in an area about 6.096 m X 12.19 m. STPs 74-77 produced several wire nails and an unidentified metal object. No features were identified at the second proposed parking lot location.
STPs in the area of the proposed new Entrance Road encountered hard packed cinders (STP 1) and dense brick rubble (STPs 3-9, 12-15, and 18) at the east end of the road. The edge of the brick deposit was evident in STP 24. It was suggested that the brick concentration represents waste material from brick-making processes that occurred at the site. Most likely, the activity would have been associated with construction of either the 1796, or the 1801, or the 1803 building. A kiln at this location associated with construction of later buildings would have been too close to the White House (1803), located just to the west of the brick concentration, for safety. During the test trench excavation, a hard packed lens containing occasional chunks of coal was noted in the east wall profile.
Artifacts from the 1981 survey were collected from STPs 49, 60, 68, 74, and 77 and from STPs 2, 14, 16, 19, 22-26, 28-31, 33-35 and the trench in the area of the proposed new entrance road. In total, 170 historic artifacts were collected. There were 2 activity items (pieces from a model airplane). There were 56 architectural items (26 flat/window glass fragments, 28 cut nails, 2 wire nails). Noted but not collected or counted were numerous fragments of brick. There were 101 kitchen-related items (6 bottle glass fragments, 9 modern bottle glass pieces, 6 whiteware, 2 stoneware, 41 creamware, 29 pearlware, 4 unidentified ceramics, 2 burnt oyster shells, 1 pig tooth, 1 animal bone fragment). There were 11 miscellaneous items (9 unidentified thin, curved glass fragments, 1 unidentified cylindrical metal object, and 1 small decorative hook, possibly off a small box or a piece of furniture).
Results of the 1981 survey suggested that the remains identified in the area of the proposed new entrance road be avoided by re-routing said road. Any additional ground disturbing activities that cannot be avoided should be carefully monitored.
In 1984, an archeological reconnaissance of the area surrounding the Old Classroom building (1896) was undertaken ahead of demolition of that structure. The Old Classroom building was located south and west of the White House. The main aims of the survey were to provide a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the prehistoric and historic resources in the proposed demolition area and to provide recommendations for the future development and management of those resources. Over a 3 day period, a total of 66 STPs at 6.096 m intervals were excavated in the proposed construction access road and around the Old Classroom building. Nine additional STPs were dug in an area south of the building.
Within the project area, the only cultural feature encountered was comprised of brick rubble. The brick feature was identified to the south of the Old Classroom building, between the Classroom building and a dormitory built ca. 1960. The rubble layer was located at about 10 cm below the surface and extended down for about 10 cm. The horizontal dimension of the feature was approximately 24.38 m² (80’). A pipeline and sidewalk cut through the feature’s southeast and southwest corners respectively. In one STP (15A) a thin layer of charcoal was noted above the brick rubble. Large brick fragments of the feature were left in situ for future investigation. The feature was tentatively interpreted to be possible rubble from the 1796 School Hall or the 1801 School Room.
A total of 75 historic artifacts were collected during the 1984 study. There was 1 activity item (a piece of 20th c. iron wire). There were 55 architectural items (33 brick fragment, 3 fragments of cement, 16 window glass shard, 2 stoneware drain pipe fragments, 1 iron threaded coupling,). There were 5 kitchen-related items (2 glass jar fragments, 1 table glass fragment, 1 ironstone sherd, 1 cast iron lid fragment). There were 14 miscellaneous items (1 unidentified melted glass fragment, 1 iron disk, 2 pieces of coal, 10 slate fragments).
It was recommended that the area south of the building be as little impacted as possible by construction activities and/or that the feature be excavated fully in order to determine its significance.
Phase I/II testing was undertaken at 18ST400 in 1989 ahead of proposed demolition of the 1960 Dormitory Building which was situated to the south of the Old Classroom building. The aims of the archeological investigations were to (1) identify and determine the significance of any foundations and features within the remaining foundation walls of the Old Classroom building and/or beneath a brick rubble feature immediately south of the Classroom building foundation, and (2) identify resources likely to be affected by the demolition of the 1960 Dormitory building.
A total of 54 STPs, dug at 6.096 m intervals, were examined within a 15.24 m (50’) perimeter around the building during the Phase I survey. All soils were screened through ¼” hardware cloth. All artifacts were retained except for late 20th century materials. At the start of fieldwork, only brick fragments with measurable edges were kept. When it was determined that the sample size would be enormous, judgmental samples of brick were saved from each test pit based on the presence of manufacturing marks, uniqueness of inclusions, and the relative intactness of the brick bats. One STP was excavated in the brick rubble area east of the White House that was originally identified in 1981 as possibly being related to brick-making activities at the site. An additional 31 STPs were dug to the south of the 1896 Classroom building, between the Classroom and the Dormitory where a brick rubble feature was identified in 1984. The soil was not screened but was merely examined for brick rubble. Several machine-cut nails were retained from STPs 74 and 80 as a means of dating the feature.
Excavations of the STPs revealed a highly compacted layer of gravel and construction/ destruction debris around the Dormitory. The layer extended about 9.144 m from the north and west walls, about 15.24 m from the east wall, and an indeterminate distance from the south wall of the building. The depth of the gravel layer and nature of the underlying deposits could not be determined without the aid of mechanical excavating equipment. A 0.762 m² test unit was placed around STP10 on the east side of the building in an attempt to recover stratigraphic information. A mattock and shovel were used but the deepest portion of the unit measured 45.72 cm (18”) below grade and the bottom of the deposit was not reached. A single ceramic sherd was recovered from the unit.
A total of 8 test units measuring 1.524 m² each were excavated in and around the demolished ruins of the 1897 Old Classroom building during the Phase II investigation. Two of those units were placed within the foundations (test units 2 and 6), one to the east of the foundation (test unit 3), and the remaining units to the south of the foundation. All test units were screened through 1/4” mesh hardware cloth except for test units 2 and 6, which were not screened. Judgmental samples of brick were saved from each of the excavation units based on the presence of manufacturing marks, uniqueness of inclusions, and the relative intactness of the brick bats. A large pit feature was located in test unit 2 that was determined to be late 19th/early 20th century in date. The rubble in test unit 3 likely represents the destruction of the 1857 structure that burnt down in 1896. Excavations in test units 4, 5, 7 and 8 revealed robber’s trenches within a building foundation. A best estimate for the width of the building was about 7.3 m. The length could not be securely ascertained but 18.28 m was postulated. Associated artifacts placed occupation of the structure in the mid-late 19th century.
Surface examination of the lawn area around the White House (1803) left little doubt that the 1797 and 1801 buildings stood only about a meter east of the extant 1803 building. Use of the grounds expanded in 1857 when the new School House was built. This was almost certainly the structure located between the 1897 and 1960 buildings, some 121 m from the core of the earlier campus. It was recommended that all demolition activities related to the 1960 building should be restricted to the area between that building and the ruins of the 1897 classroom building.
A total of 1,375 historic artifacts were collected during the 1989 investigations. There were 7 activity items (1 bucket handle, 2 pencil fragments, 2 glass pipette fragments, 1 brass screw from dividers or a compass, 1 flower pot fragment). There were 851 architectural items (173 brick fragments, 1 wrought nail, 492 cut nails, 14 wire nails, 127 window glass fragments, 1 mortar fragment, 1 iron spike, 5 screws, 7 pieces of roofing slate, 3 brackets and rivets, 3 pieces of electrical wire, 17 ceramic tile pieces, 4 ceramic drain pipe fragments, 3 pieces of plaster). There were 4 clothing items (1 bone button, 1 plastic button, 1 metal button, 1 metal button or cufflink). There were 2 furniture items (1 decorative hinge, 1 stove flue). There were 408 kitchen-related items (385 bottle glass fragments, 1 table glass shard, 1 red earthenware, 4 white earthenware, 2 porcelain, 1 Lusterware, 3 gray salt-glazed stoneware, 2 other stoneware, 1 whiteware, 7 tin can fragments, 1 oyster shell fragment). There were 101 miscellaneous items (5 melted glass fragments, 5 unidentified glass fragments, 24 unidentified iron and copper metal fragments, 37 pieces of scrap sheet metal, 1 wire case handle, 12 iron strap fragments, 1 band of strap iron with rivets, 5 unidentified wire fragments, 4 pieces of plastic, 4 pieces of rubber, 2 pieces of unidentified slate, 1 unidentified hinge). There was 1 tobacco item (a terra cotta reed pipe fragment). There was 1 arms item (a .22 caliber shell casing).
A total of 8 prehistoric items were also collected including 1 quartzite biface tip fragment and 7 quartz flakes.
The Charlotte Hall Site (18ST400) is a significant historical resource for understanding the structure of the school system in the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries in Southern Maryland. Archeological study of 18th and 19th century academy life is in its infancy. The superb archeological record at Charlotte Hall can contribute greatly to that endeavor. Any further earth-moving activities at the site should be either prohibited or closely monitored by a professional archeologist.
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