Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18ST61 Point Lookout Lighthouse
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
Site 18ST61 (herein referred to as Point Lookout) consists of a complex of extant and non-extant structures dating back to at least the Civil War. The site consists of the extant ca. 1830 Point Lookout Lighthouse (MIHP# SM-271), a coal shed (MIHP# SM-512), a ca. late 19th century buoy shed (MIHP# SM-511) and a ca. 1900 smokehouse (MIHP# SM-513), and the non-extant ca. 1863/4 Hammond/ U.S. General Hospital and U.S. General Depot for Prisoners of War. The site is variously referred to as ‘Point Lookout’, ‘Point Lookout Light Station’, ‘Point Lookout Lighthouse’ and ‘Point Lookout Hospital’. Site 18ST61 is located at the eastern end of Point Lookout, in St. Mary’s County. It is on the property of the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, except for the smokehouse and the yard immediately surrounding it which was donated by the Navy to the State of Maryland in the 1970’s. The point is situated at the confluence of the Potomac River (to the west) and the Chesapeake Bay (to the east), about 3.048 m (10’) above sea level. The soils found at Point Lookout are part of the Othello-Mattapex Association, which are characterized as gently sloping, poorly to moderately-well drained, silty soils that have a silty subsoil. There is a small wooded area on the Bay side of the site that had at one time been under cultivation. Winds, wave action, tides and currents have resulted in severe erosion along both shorelines. Beginning in 1846, many attempts have been made to control erosion and massive amounts of rip-rap and stone revetment have been added in recent years. Portions of the point have also been subject to land-altering activities associated with its development as a recreational park, and by Coast Guard and Navy activities. All of these factors have combined to adversely affect the archeological record and produced an extremely complex stratigraphy.
Documentary research revealed a history going back to the 17th century in the site area. In 1608 when Captain John Smith was exploring the Chesapeake Bay, he passed the confluence of the Potomac and the Chesapeake and called the peninsula “Sparkes Point” and in 1634 the arriving Maryland colonists named it “St. Michael’s Point”. The 3000 acre tract of St. Michael’s was patented to Leonard Calvert in 1634 and again in 1641. The property was part of the political subdivision known as St. Michael’s Hundred, which extended from Point Lookout north to St. Inigoes. Calvert divided his tract into 3 manors including St. Michael’s, a 1500 acre parcel at Point Lookout, Trinity (600 acres), and St. Gabriel’s (900 acres). It is indicated that by 1648 the named had changed again when a warrant was issued for a tract of land at “Poynt Look out [sic] in St. Michaells Manor”. The area is named Point Lookout on Alsop’s map of 1666. The 3 Point Lookout manors were passed down to Calvert’s son, William, by 1661. William Calvert apparently leased (or sold?) some of the land to Philip Lynes. In 1697, Lynes sold to Gabriell Paroti three manors except leases and grants legally made by Charles Calvert to Charles Egerton, Richard Calvert, and Solomon Jones. Paroti’s grandson, Gabriel Parker, sold the manors in 1738 to James Smith (likely the husband of Parker’s sister Mary) of St. Mary’s City. Mary and James’ daughter inherited the property in 1753 and later willed it her husband Robert Armstrong. Armstrong retained the property until 1813. In addition to the activity of the American Revolution, the Point suffered heavily during the War of 1812. In 1813, Armstrong’s property was damaged by the British and he was taken hostage. When Armstrong died in 1814, the land was sold to James Crane. In 1820, Crane granted the land called Point Lookout to Thomas, John, and Sisters of Ignatius, and heirs of Richard Clarke. In 1826 John Clark, Jr. sold his 250 acre, one-third interest in the tract at Point Lookout to Jenifer Taylor.
After much delay and bickering with Jenifer Taylor, construction began on the lighthouse in 1830. A one and a half story structure combining the light and the keeper’s quarter was built. The brick house measured 6.096 x 10.36 m (20’x34’) and contained 2 rooms with 3 windows and a fireplace in each room. The foundation walls were 45.72 cm (18”) thick, and the cellar floor was paved with brick. A one story kitchen measuring 3.65 x 7.31 m (12x24’) was attached to the house. The light tower was 2.438 m (8’) in diameter and the lantern was 7.31 m off the ground. A 1.219 x 1.524 m (4’x5’) brick privy was built nearby and a 1.219 m wide brick-lined well with a windmill-driven water pump was added south of the dwelling. A post-and-rail fence enclosed the yard. A garden lot was located about 60.96 m (200’) north of the lighthouse. A new mechanically operated fogbell was added to the lighthouse in 1872. In the 1880’s, a new tin roof was installed and front and back porches were built, and a second story was added to the dwelling. Also, a separate summer kitchen and a stable were added to the lighthouse facility. The lighthouse was closed in 1966. However, for many years the lighthouse was rented out as a residence to private citizens or Park officials.
In the mid-19th century the area just north of the lighthouse was developed into a fashionable resort. However, the onset of the Civil War resulted in reduced use of the land and it was leased to the Federal government in 1862 for the establishment of a Union military hospital. Except for the presence of several buildings ready for occupancy, the location on the point for a hospital was ill-conceived. It was difficult to resupply, there was an inadequate supply of fresh water, and the lack of shade and glaring white sand meant that it was oppressively hot in the summer. The newly built facility consisted of 16 wings (15 one-story wings and 1 two-story “Executive Building”) arranged like the spokes of a wheel. Four buildings were erected in the center of the circle. The facility sat on piers 0.609-0.914 m (2-3’) above the ground. A 20,000 gallon (75,708 liter) water tank was equipped with a steam engine. The morgue, ice house, laundry, and staff residences were located in buildings outside the main facility. After the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, Point Lookout was chosen as a prisoner-of-war camp/stockade (and cemetery) for Confederate soldiers. The hospital served both Union and Confederate soldiers. In 1865, the hospital closed and Ulysses S. Grant ordered the hospital buildings to be sold at public auction. By 1867, the buildings had been sold or were torn down for scrap. The building materials (mainly brick and lumber) were taken to Washington and Baltimore, or were sold at public auction at Point Lookout. Several renovations were undertaken at the lighthouse in the 20th century.
In 1878, a Coast Guard station was established next to the lighthouse, with additional land purchased in 1887 and 1891. The station became inactive in 1937 and was formally abandoned in 1948. A buoy depot was set up just south of the lighthouse in 1883. It was a 12.192 m (40’) by 30.48 m (100’) repair and storage facility. A coal shed of the same dimensions was completed a year later, and apparently was converted for use as a dwelling for some time. The coal shed originally had a wood floor that was replaced in 1889. A small building located north of the lighthouse was thought to have been used as either a smokehouse or cornhouse. The architecture indicates that it was built sometime in the 1880’s but it has been speculated that it was used as a photography studio during the Civil War. Also in the 1880’s, a large wharf was built and a tramway was built between buildings. A new fogbell tower was built on the bay side of the coal shed. In 1890, a new 111.25 m (365’) wharf was constructed on the Potomac, which underwent repairs several times as a result of storm damage.
By the end of the 1880’s Point Lookout contained only the lighthouse, a few cottages, a hotel, a post office and store, and farmland. By the 20th century, the point once again functioned as a resort or recreation community. Another hotel was established in the 1920’s but has since been replaced by a fishing pier. In 1964, Maryland purchased 495 acres of land to create a park at Point Lookout (north of the Navy’s parcel).
Previous research was conducted at Point Lookout and in the vicinity of site 18ST61 in 1973 and 1976, and underwater reconnaissance was conducted in 1983 of the near shore along the public beach at Point Lookout State Park. These investigations were well summarized in the original report on the 1995 investigations. The 1973 survey encompassed approximately 513 acres of Point Lookout in areas to be impacted by development of the State Park. A thorough survey was conducted in order to identify culturally significant areas and to provide management recommendations. A number of sites were encountered including sites in the southern portion of Point Lookout such as a possible dumping ground for the 20th century Point Lookout Hotel, and a number of features located along the Chesapeake Bay shore at the southern end of the point. Reported were two possible hospital ward posts, the possible locations of the guard quarters and quartermaster’s office or a boarding house (now submerged), a corduroy road or ditch, possible rifle pits, and a brick foundation with two collapsed walls believed to be a post-Civil War structure. Limited excavations around the smokehouse revealed 20th century material. In 1976, sections of what was believed to have been the 1863/4 Civil War-era Potomac stockade were uncovered. During the limited underwater survey, it was demonstrated that the submerged cultural resource base off the shores of Point Lookout is large and varied.
Phase I/II investigations at the site and on small portions of the adjoining Point Lookout State Park were conducted in 1995. The Point Lookout portion of the survey covered approximately 6 acres of land at the eastern tip of the point. The small portions of State Park land were surveyed ahead of the construction of 3 thoedolite stations and as those 3 areas do not relate to site 18ST61, they will not be discussed in the synthesis. Work consisted of detailed archival research (above) and the excavation of shovel test pits (STPs) and units. A baseline was established running east-west, parallel to the north façade of the lighthouse. Two permanent stakes were placed 3.048 m north of both the northeast and the northwest corners of the lighthouse.
A total of 385 STPs were placed at 7.62 m (25’) intervals on transects set 7.62 m apart. In some areas, STPs could not be excavated to subsoil where the water table was too high. All excavated soils were screened through ¼” mesh, and all artifacts were retained although no attempt was made to separate them stratigraphically. Artifact distributions derived from shovel tests indicated several spatial relationships. In the southern part of the project area, concentrations of ceramics, wire and square nails, brick, mortar, and coal clustered around the lighthouse, particularly on the eastern side of the building. This was interpreted as a possible disposal area for both construction debris and household refuse. Other refuse material at the northwest corner of the lighthouse may have been associated either with non-extant structures known to have stood in the area or with the pre-1920’s kitchen that was located on the west side of the lighthouse. Two concentrations (mostly architectural debris) around the buoy and coal sheds most likely related to those structures. A concentration of brick along the bay shoreline near the lighthouse was suggested to represent material discarded during renovations of the lighthouse, or possibly undocumented structural remains.
A concentration of structural remains, associated at least in part with the hospital, was identified in the middle project area. Northwest of the smokehouse, a light concentration of brick and mortar was located where a structure was subsequently uncovered. Clusters of composition roofing material in the middle project area corresponded with most of the unidentified and square nail concentrations. This supported the hypothesis that wooden, post-supported pavilion buildings associated with the hospital were located there. Two brick concentrations were also located near the middle of the project area and were thought to possibly represent unidentified structures in those locales. Two other concentrations were encountered that likely related to mid-20th century buildings.
Fewer and less dense artifact concentrations were identified in the northern part of the project area. This was probably because most of the activity was centered around the lighthouse since the 1830’s, except for the brief time between 1862 and 1865 when the middle and northern parts of the project area were more intensively used. A cluster of composition roofing material and nails likely represents the northern extent of the hospital. Two brick concentrations were possibly related to undocumented structural remains or to the hospital morgue which was located in the vicinity.
Following the STP excavations, 15 test units measuring 1.524 m² and one 0.762 m² test unit were dug in areas where dense concentrations had been identified during the shovel testing or where subsurface features had been encountered. Not all of the features that were encountered were excavated. All excavated soils were screened and all artifacts were retained, except in cases where the quantities of certain materials such as coal, concrete and coal slag necessitated sampling. Strata and features were labeled consecutively using letters. All artifacts are being curated at the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum Laboratory.
Test Units 11743 and 11747 were excavated in order to investigate the foundation and immediate vicinity of the lighthouse to see if any intact stratigraphic deposits existed there. A layer consisting of numerous fragments of coal and coal slag was located below layers of sand wash. The layer appeared to represent a dump of material, probably from work done at the lighthouse. Below that, a layer of buried topsoil was removed revealing another buried level of topsoil into which 3 features intruded. Two of the features were tree molds and the third feature was a cement footer probably dating to the 1920’s renovations. The artifacts indicated a 20th century date for most of the strata in the units. Some wire nails possibly dated to the late 19th century were also recovered. A trench was discovered in TU 11747 beneath several sand layers. The trench contained a brick footer, evidently installed in the 1920’s. No intact stratigraphy predating that was located in TU 11743 but in TU 11747 a layer which probably represented the early 19th century ground surface was encountered. A builder’s trench intruded into that layer.
In Test Units 21121 and 21321, which were located southwest of the smokehouse, several features were encountered at the interface with the subsoil. A linear stain ran along the west side of both units and another, possibly containing post holes, ran along the east side of the units. Two post holes about 1.524 m apart were found, one in each unit. These features were interpreted as late 19th or early 20th century ditches or fence lines related to the lighthouse and its garden plot.
Test Units 25100, 25101, 25301, and 25502 were opened in an area northwest of the smokehouse to uncover an intact brick feature discovered during shovel testing. Features located consisted of plowscars, a possible post hole, the builder’s trench which was partially excavated, a brick foundation/underpinning, a brick pier and a hole around the brick pier, and the pier hole. A corner of the foundation was uncovered. A layer of burnt subsoil suggests that the structure may have been destroyed by fire, and a trench was dug to remove most of the brick underpinning. The building represented by the remains was suggested to be the stable built in 1889.
Test Unit 27100 was placed in an area with a high density of nails and composition roofing material, as well as quantities of domestic material. The large amount of architectural items indicated that the unit was related to the destruction of the hospital buildings in 1867. The presence of brick in the assemblage (retrieved from the lower strata) indicated the possibility that another structure may stood in the vicinity at one time, and that it pre-dated the hospital. No features were observed in the unit but the only turtle remains (n=47) recovered from the site were found here.
Test Unit 29910 was placed in an area where the ground surface remains of a brick foundation and collapsed walls were first identified in 1974, and re-identified in 1995. The unit was located in a small area of woods. No cultural features were found in the unit. However, the artifact assemblage indicated that the brick structure may have dated to the Civil War or earlier, although the latter seems more likely as the hospital was almost wholly wooden.
Test Unit 29916 was placed 7.62 m east of TU 29910 where a concentration of brick was noted on the surface. The remains related to a brick foundation, partially submerged in 1974, which was moved inland from the shore when rip-rap was installed in the 1970’s. Two post hole and postmold features were encountered in the unit. The total lack of wire nails in the assemblage suggested that the structure represented by the remains was antebellum in date or that a later structure was built without wire nails.
No cultural features were identified in the remaining test units. The dates obtained for those units, based on the artifact assemblages, suggested that the deposits were related to the destruction of the Civil War hospital. A post-bellum date was generally implied.
A total of 52,393 historic period artifacts were recovered from the site. The totals were taken from the artifact inventories in Appendix B and Appendix C in the original report. Thousands of oyster shells and shell fragments were also recorded; however, the shell was determined to be naturally rather than culturally derived so it was not included in the totals in the table above. There were 268 activity items including 5 marbles, 1 porcelain doll part, 1 plastic toy airplane, 11 fragments of a plastic toy truck, 1 skeet fragment, 48 lamp glass fragments, 3 lamp parts, 4 light bulb parts, 4 pieces of iron chain link, 4 pieces of 20th c. fencing, 1 iron fence stake fragment, 8 pieces of fishing line, 3 lead fishing weights, 2 fishing leaders, 11 pieces of non-electrical wire, 143 fragments of a pail or bucket, 3 metal springs, 6 test tube fragments, and 9 clay flower pot sherds. There were 24,734 architectural items including 4,895 brick fragments, 1 wrought nail, 175 cut nails, 550 wire nails, 25 roofing nails, 3 copper nails (1 painted), 3,530 unidentified nails, 688 window glass shards, 7 pieces of other flat glass, 3,554 bits of mortar (some with attached plaster or concrete), 1 hinge with nails, 39 spike pieces, 10 screws, 1 bolt, 1,450 plaster or paint/caulk chips, 123 fragments of plaster (some with paint), 16 strips of electrical wire, 14 metal tacks, 7 metal washers, 5 pieces of ceramic drain pipe, 32 pieces of asphalt roofing shingles, 18 bits of tar roof shingling, 70 fragments of asbestos shingles and tiles, 9,077 pieces of composition roofing material, 8 window screen pieces, 3 fragments of linoleum, 14 fuses and fuse parts, 390 pieces of tar and tar paper, 3 fragments of miscellaneous hardware, 3 cinderblock fragments, 2 metal hook pieces, 15 fragments of daub, 1 copper rivet, and 4 pieces of iron grating. There were 15 clothing items including 10 buttons (1 white glass, 2 plastic, 3 iron, 1 porcelain, and 3 copper alloy), 1 suspender clasp, 2 garter belt clips, 1 shoe lace eyelet, and 1 eyelet ring. There were 5 furniture items including 4 brass tacks and 1 brass finial. There were 2,210 kitchen-related items including 1,017 fragments of bottle and jar glass, 1 medicine bottle fragment, 199 shards of table/vessel glass, 4 pieces of milk glass, 3 milk glass lid liner fragments, 5 buff-bodied stoneware sherds, 3 Albany slip, 2 creamware, 3 pearlware, 12 porcelain, 3 Rockingham, 1 semi-porcelain, 5 coarse earthenware, 1 Staffordshire, 12 ironstone, 2 refined earthenware, 2 gray stoneware, 151 whiteware, 3 yelloware, and 1 unidentified ceramic sherd, 11 pieces of cellophane, 26 fragments of aluminum foil, 2 plastic utensils, 65 metal can fragments, 76 aluminum pull tabs, 29 bottle caps and liners, 10 fruit pits, 1 walnut shell, 13 scallop, 4 snail, 171 clam, 57 mussel, and 15 unidentified shell fragments, 6 fish scales, and 294 animal bones (1 butchered, bird, fish, turtle, and mammal). There were 25,102 miscellaneous items including 37 pieces of unidentifiable glass, 3,078 unidentified flat iron objects, 1,457 unidentified iron objects, 464 other unidentified metal objects, 5 unidentified copper objects, 2 metal rods, 127 paint chips, 274 wood fragments (some with paint), 1 possible iron buckle, 301 pieces of plastic, 10 fabric fragments, 72 pieces of slate, 4 leather pieces (1 painted), 15,464 pieces of coal/coal slag, 13 unidentified wire fragments, 927 fragments of concrete/cement, 1,692 pieces of charcoal, 205 pieces of burnt wood, 130 pieces of Styrofoam, 2 fragments of rubber, 745 pieces of asphalt, 1 bakelite fragment, 6 pieces of possible ochre, 8 unidentified lithic object, 48 pieces of modern debris, and 29 unidentified objects. There were 14 personal items including 2 nickels (1980/81), 1 penny (1981), 3 quarters (1969/71/76), 1 dime (1976), 1 Canadian penny, 2 porcelain figurine fragments, 1 skeleton key, 2 amber glass bead fragments, and 1 horseshoe ornament. There were 17 tobacco items including 1 white clay pipe stem and 6 white clay pipe bowl fragments, 5 cigarette filters, and 5 plastic cigarette filters. There were 28 arms-related items including 15 copper shell casings (.22 cal), 1 casing .28 cal, 3 mini balls with 1 carved into a chess piece, 7 other bullet and shell casings, and 2 pieces of lead shot.
A total of 41 prehistoric materials were also retrieved from the site. There were 32 pieces of debitage, primarily quartz flakes, and 1 utilized flake. There were 3 fire-cracked rocks. There were 5 ceramic sherds including 1 Pope’s Creek (Middle Woodland), 2 Townsend (Late Woodland), and 2 unidentified shell-tempered sherds. The assemblage likely represents sporadic episodes of use at the location throughout the prehistoric period.
The Point Lookout site (18ST61) was determined archeologically significant on the basis of intact deposits that might yield valuable information about the lighthouse or Civil War structures. The pavilion hospital’s innovative architectural design reflected changing ideas about medicine and medical care in the mid-19th century. Stratigraphic integrity around the oldest section of the lighthouse indicated deposits exist that could be an important resource for understanding the architectural history of the lighthouse, as well as the history of the people who lived and worked there. It was recommended that any work conducted in areas within significant artifact concentrations that would cause subsurface disturbance should be avoided, or preceded by testing and data recovery to mitigate the impact on the archeological record. The lighthouse and two other buildings were conferred to the State of Maryland in 2006 in a land exchange deal made with the Navy (see site 18ST792).
In 2017, a Phase II Evaluation was conducted in areas that would be affected by proposed improvements to the Point Lookout Lighthouse. A total of seven one-meter-square test units were excavated as part of the Phase II investigation, and within these a total of seven features were excavated. Four significant features were located within the area immediately to the south and east of the lighthouse, which may be dated to the mid-nineteenth century: three circular/ovular pits and a charcoal deposit. It is possible that Features 1, 5, 6, and/or 7 may have once been postholes, as suggested by the presence of wood in both features (though more substantially in Feature 1). Their plans and profiles are atypical of postholes usually seen in the archaeological record; however, natural forces of wind and water acting on the sand over the past century may be an explanation. Test units excavated further to the east and north of the lighthouse revealed deep deposits of sand from historic flooding episodes, as well as overall deflation of the soil profile further to the north, leaving only a thin remnant of the historic plow zone. As such, some measure of avoidance or mitigation was recommended in the area to the south and east of the lighthouse.
A Phase III Data Recovery was conducted within intact areas of Site 18ST61 that would be affected by proposed improvements. A total of 20 test units were excavated as part of the Phase III Data Recovery efforts in June and July of 2018, which covered approximately 25 percent of the intact areas of the site to be impacted. This included one block excavation to expose one quarter of the 1872 mechanical bell tower. A total of 26 features were discovered and excavated during the investigation, all of them dating from the nineteenth to twentieth centuries. The irregular shape of the deepest, earliest features, many of which were below the water table, and the quality of the artifacts recovered from them, indicate that the fill of these features is a secondary deposit from regular flood events. Although interpretation is difficult because of this, some of the early features appear to be fence posts. Most of the twentieth-century features are associated with the 1927-1928 renovations to the lighthouse.
Additional features lie within the area that will be impacted by the lighthouse improvements. However, the Phase III Data Recovery has determined that none of the early features in this area contain primary fill deposits, and thus their interpretative value is limited. In addition, a good sample of twentieth-century features related to the lighthouse renovations was excavated over the course of the Phase II and Phase III efforts. All of the major structural features that would be affected by improvements have been recorded in the archaeological investigations (including the mechanical fog bell tower) or have been destroyed by prior disturbance. While the Phase III effort successfully mitigated the project impacts to Site 18ST61, it was anticipated that additional significant artifacts may be recovered from deep fill deposits.
A total of 9,981 artifacts were recorded during both the Phase II Evaluation and the Phase III Data Recovery. Only two prehistoric artifacts were recovered in the Phase II and Phase III investigations, both from contexts which also contained historic artifacts. One quartz flake was recovered from Stratum V of TU21 (731.1). A partial quartz projectile point (672.29) was also recovered from Feature 29. The tool is missing its base, and tidal action has smoothed the edges, and as such it is not possible to determine the assign a certain typological form. However, what does remain resembles a Bare Island point, which suggest a manufacture date within the Late Archaic to the Early Woodland.
In total, only 694 artifacts out of 9,982, or 14.4 percent of the entire assemblage recovered in the Phase II and Phase III work, were classified in the Domestic Group. This is notable since observations made during the Phase I Identification indicated that the general paucity of domestic artifacts “may be explained by the convenience of the river and the bay for refuse disposal; however, rules governing the behavior of lighthouse keepers, as government employees, may have also influenced deposition at the lighthouse” (Leeson and Breckenridge 1999:115). We must consider that most faunal artifacts (n=1850) and many artifacts that could not be definitively identified (Indefinite Use; n=2368) may also constitute domestic refuse from the lighthouse.
Structural artifacts comprised nearly half of the assemblage, followed distantly by artifacts of indefinite use, faunal artifacts (which were mainly oyster shell), and domestic artifacts. More specifically, structural materials (33.2 percent of the assemblage), faunal remains (18.5 percent), hardware (16.4 percent), fuel (9.0 percent), miscellaneous metal items (7.2 percent), miscellaneous containers (6.7 percent), and food prep/consumption (4.2 percent), and heating/lighting (2.0 percent) comprised over 95 percent of the assemblage. The overall assemblage is notable for its relatively high percentage of structural materials, related to maintenance and renovations of the lighthouse and other buildings at the southern tip of Point Lookout over approximately 140 years, in relation to the relatively low percentage of domestic materials reflecting the daily lives of inhabitants of the lighthouse over a similar span of time. The ratio of structural artifacts to domestic artifacts, more than 7:1, illustrates that the archaeological site provides primarily information about the history of the building and its ancillary structures, and less so about the lifeways of the inhabitants of the buildings.
The Phase II and Phase III excavations at Point Lookout yielded a total of 437 fragments of ceramic tablewares, teawares, serving wares, furnishings, containers, and indefinite items.
The Phase II and Phase III fieldwork generated a total of 20 artifacts of the clothing category, 10 artifacts of the clothing maintenance category, seven artifacts of the accoutrements category, and one artifact from the footwear category. While few in number, these artifacts provided very valuable information about the Civil War component of Site 18ST61. One Union officer sword belt plate was recovered from the bottom of Feature 29 in TU12 and two “puppy paw” copper alloy belt plates were recovered from Feature 1 in TU 3 and 6. A unique type of copper allow hardware from a Maryland Cavalry sabre belt was recovered Feature 13 to the east of the lighthouse as well.
A total of 24 artifacts were recovered that were classified in the firearms category. The assemblage reflected two distinctive periods: Civil War-period Minié balls and gunflints; and late nineteenth and twentieth century shell casings for rifles.
A total of 34 fragments of bottles, cans, and jars and their associated closures for food or food storage were recovered from various contexts around the site, but only a very few possessed diagnostic characteristics. Though small in quantity, these artifacts represent evidence of lifeways and foodways of the inhabitants of the lighthouse. A total of 417 artifacts were recovered that are associated with food prep/consumption. In addition to ceramic tablewares, 10 fragments of glass tablewares were also recovered from south and east of the lighthouse (TU6, TU12, TU19, and TU20). A total of eight artifacts were associated with the grooming/health category. These included four fragments of combs (two rubber and two Bakelite), and four medicine bottle fragments. A total of 17 fragments of alcohol-related artifacts were recovered.
Four artifacts in the toys category were recovered during the Phase II and Phase III excavations. Though few in number, these artifacts should be considered important evidence for the activity of the children of lighthouse keepers. These include one white porcelain doll head from Feature 28; a plastic train wheel from Stratum II of TU12; and two glass marbles, one from Stratum II of TU11, and another from Stratum II of TU22. Two slate pencils were recovered from Stratum IV of TU6, and Stratum VII of TU20. These contexts are associated with the use of the lighthouse in the late nineteenth century, and thus, these may be writing utensils lost by the lighthouse keeper or his assistant.
The features and intact stratigraphic layers in the vicinity of the lighthouse are important resources for understanding the architectural history of the lighthouse, as well as the history of the people who lived and worked there.
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