Preserve the Past in Your Backyard: Save Baltimore’s Privies for the Future

Lauren Schiszik, M.H.P., Historic Preservation Planner and Staff Archaeologist, Baltimore City Department of Planning

The term “privy” means a secret and is often used as a colloquial term for outhouses. While the rough wooden outhouses are long gone from people’s backyards in Baltimore City and Maryland, the brick- or wood-lined pits that were used to dispose human waste and other trash are often still present underground. The remains of those privies can turn up all kinds of personal information about the people who used them, about their health, diet, heritage, and past times. From the rural mill villages of Dickeyville and Woodberry, to the dense quarters of Federal Hill, Fells Point, and Seton Hill, you can still find the remains of privies today in backyards and under garages if you know how to look for them.

Outhouses line the rear yards of homes in the Fells Point neighborhood in this photo from the mid-20th century. This photo was taken as part of a documentation of the area, characterized as the “Broadway Slum.” as part of an urban renewal project. (Broadway Slum Redevelopment, 8, Box: S8-B1, Folder: 21. Citizens Planning and Housing Association Records, R0032-CPHA. Baltimore Studies Archives. University of Baltimore.)

Although Baltimore funded the construction of a comprehensive sewer system in the early 1900s, the business district downtown and the developing suburbs were the first to get indoor plumbing and bathrooms. While Baltimore’s public works department constructed sewer and water lines across the city, it was the responsibility of each property owner to install plumbing on their property. The oldest neighborhoods were often the ones that went much longer without interior plumbing due to the difficulty and expense of retrofitting plumbing and sewer lines into the buildings, and it wasn’t until the mid-twentieth century that every home in Baltimore had an indoor bathroom. Thus, people used privies in their backyards in many parts of Baltimore City into the 20th century, and these privies often served dual roles as bathroom and trash pit. There were “night soil collectors” that would muck out the privies and transport the contents to the city dump, but eventually, the privies were abandoned and filled in with trash. The contents within them are preserved, like a secret, in backyards all across the city.

Baltimore City has 38 local historic districts and over 200 Baltimore City Landmarks, which includes over 15,000 properties. These historic properties are subject to the review of the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP), and the design guidelines regulate work completed on the exteriors of properties, including the yard. Just like owners of properties in local historic districts are stewards of the built environment, they may also be the unknowing stewards of archaeological resources. CHAP’s design guidelines state that every reasonable effort must be made to identify, protect, and preserve archaeological significant resources, and direct that applicants should leave known archaeological resources intact, whenever possible. The Commission may require that work involving subsurface disturbance, such as excavation, utility work, and new construction, be subject to an archaeological assessment completed by a professional archaeologist. Excavation on properties in CHAP districts or on Baltimore City Landmarks requires approval from CHAP staff and may also require a building permit.

As archaeological sites, privies can provide an incredible amount of information about how people lived in the past. Written records often tell us very little about the people who collectively comprised the majority of Baltimore’s population: free and enslaved Black people, immigrants from Europe and Asia, women, children. In order to learn about their lives, historians often have to turn to other “texts” like oral histories and archaeological sites.

Archaeological sites are non-renewable cultural resources. The act of excavating a privy or other archaeological site destroys it, and thus, professional archaeologists take care when excavating a privy to only dig part of it. They leave the rest for future archaeologists who can hopefully learn more using less destructive methods. It is better still to leave known archaeological sites alone, preserving them in place, which stewards them for future generations. However, if an archaeological site is going to be disturbed due to construction or development, it is important to excavate them scientifically, systematically recording the finds, studying and cataloging the artifacts, and ultimately writing a report that shares a complete story of what the artifacts can tell about the people that used them. This ensures that although the site itself is gone, the information from the site is not lost.

Archaeological resources represent a wealth of historical information about our shared heritage. The privies that have been scientifically excavated and recorded in Baltimore have provided a plethora of information about people’s lives in the 19th and 20th centuries. Careful excavation can uncover different periods of use of the privy, offering tightly dated time frames for artifacts that can then be connected to specific families that lived at the property. Detailed analysis can provide insights about the economic status, heritage, diet, and health of the people that lived there. Mammal, fish, and bird bones, delicate eggshells, even botanical materials like fruit pits, nuts, and seeds can teach archaeologists about what cuts of meat were used, how the food was prepared, whether the family hunted game, raised fowl, fished, or foraged. The bottles – medicine, liquor, perfume – and the pieces of ceramic dishes can teach about health conditions, local businesses and manufacturers, national and international trade. There are artifacts that were likely accidentally dropped in the privy, like buttons, jewelry, keys, coins, and toys.

The discovery of these objects is thrilling, but the knowledge gleaned from them is even more thrilling, and is far more lasting if it is recorded and shared. There is a long history of unscientific privy-digging in Baltimore City and elsewhere across the country. Social media has raised the profile of privy-digging and relic hunting as both recreation and business. Folks share their finds on social media, allowing followers to experience the thrill of discovery and purchase the artifacts that are uncovered. Privies in local historic districts and local landmarks have been excavated without CHAP review or approval mostly because they are located in rear yards and are largely unseen. Thus, education about the value of privies and archaeological sites in terms of our collective heritage is vital, so that property owners can become stewards of these important, largely invisible resources.

If folks are interested in learning more about archaeology in Baltimore City, there are some wonderful organizations to follow and get involved with, like the Central Chapter of the Archeological Society of Maryland, the Herring Run Archeology Project, Baltimore Heritage, Baltimore Archaeology Forum, and the Baltimore Community Archaeology Lab.

Where, Oh Where Has My Little Boat Gone? Tracking the Coastal Movement of Shipwrecks

By Dr. Susan Langley, State Underwater Archaeologist

How time flies; it doesn’t seem so long ago that the Maryland Maritime Archaeology Program was celebrating its 30^th anniversary and now here we are at 35 already!  We will be kicking off the celebration with the launch of a citizen science opportunity; the Shipwreck Tagging Archaeological Management Program (STAMP).

Ship timbers with Plexiglas tags (Photo courtesy of STAMP)

This program is an interesting perspective on our Archaeology Month theme of the importance of context. STAMP involves attaching permanent Plexiglas tags containing QR codes to individual timbers or to each timber making up a portion of a shipwreck that has washed up on one of Maryland’s shores then leaving it to continue to journey. Anyone subsequently encountering these timbers can scan the codes and learn when and where the timber was tagged and any historical information about it as well as where it has been previously reported. The reported locations are recorded so the data may be studied to understand better the currents and other elements acting on the movement of these resources and how the condition of the timbers is affected. Also, if all the timbers constituting a piece of vessel hull are subsequently reported as individual timbers, it can be determined that the piece has broken apart. Understanding how and where they are going may provide insights as to where they originated. After the collision of the British mail ship H.M.S. Oregon with a schooner (probably the Charles R. Morse) off Long Island in 1886, mail bags rode the longshore currents and washed up on the beach near Chincoteague as long as six weeks after the event (U.S.L.S.S. 1886:266, 272).

Tagging efforts had been undertaken in the past; in North Carolina on Bodie Island as the Beach Wreck Tagging Program and by the Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum (formerly the Virginia Beach Maritime Museum) with varying degrees of success. In the past, Maryland worked with the National Park Service at Assateague National Seashore to develop a program but recording the longitude and latitude of wreck pieces relied on professionals doing the work or, after the advent of GPS, being present with the limited, expensive, and heavy equipment to assist the public. Once smart phones became widely available, virtually everyone had a GPS in their pocket and the program became much more feasible. It really came to life when Austin Burkhard took it over as the subject of his Master’s Thesis at the University of West Florida (UWF). He initiated studying the tags used in the various other efforts, as an intern at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge while an undergraduate, and developed the tags currently in use, as well as building the format and methods of the Program.

Tagging efforts during a workshop in Florida (Photo Credit: Austin Burkhard)

UWF is home to the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN), which formalized the tagging program as STAMP, and partnered with the National Park Service to create and maintain the database of travelling timbers. Other states and organizations have joined the partnership including Virginia and Maryland, both of which added a second QR code to offer more background about the timbers. North Carolina and others are working to join or transition extant programs so that there will be a broad and consistent collection of data. 

To learn more about STAMP and Maryland’s involvement, please visit: tiny.cc/MHT-STAMP

Here’s Tag Number 1 as an example. Scanning the QR codes will open links to the web site provided above. Once there, you will be able to go to the “List of Tagged Timbers” on the left sidebar to look up the Tag Number you have found. Please note that as none have been deployed yet, none are listed. We will be posting some dummy tags and information from an upcoming training as examples; those tags will have letters instead of numbers.

Reference

U.S. Life-Saving Service. 1876-1914. Annual Report of the Operations of the United States Life-Saving Service.  Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.  On file U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, DC. 29 Volumes.

International Women’s Day: Dr. Susan Buck

By Dr. Brenna Spray, Outreach Coordinator

Dr. Susan Buck taking samples from the cornice at Brice House (Photo: David Hildebrand)

Today is International Women’s Day and we are shining a spotlight on world-renowned conservator and paint analyst, Dr. Susan Buck! Susan has worked in the field of paint and finishes analysis since 1991 and completed her PhD in Art Conservation Research at the University of Delaware in 2003 where she won an outstanding dissertation award from the College of Arts and Sciences. Her private conservation work includes analysis and treatment on objects and architecture for many institutions including the World Monuments Fund Qianlong Garden Conservation Project in The Forbidden City in Beijing. Susan has conducted paint analysis on numerous buildings throughout Maryland and MHT is lucky to have worked closely with her on major restoration projects such as the Maryland State House, the old Treasury Building, and the James Brice House.

Susan Buck examining a sample at 10X prior to taking it to her lab for analysis (Photo: David Hildebrand)

Paint is one of the most prominent features of any given space, whether it is on the exterior covering of the dome of the State House or the interior finishes of the main rooms of the Brice House. Proper analysis of paint layers is essential, therefore, to understanding the original colors as well as the pigments and various ingredients used in each layer. During the State House dome restoration, Susan constructed a full chronology of paint layers from the most recent all the way to its original construction. Her analysis concluded that the dome was painted approximately 20 to 30 times in 235 years—and identified the soft, creamier color now visible on the dome. Her analysis also helped to determine proper preparation of surfaces and makeup of the paint ensuring a successful restoration. Her work at the Old Treasury has helped to determine the earliest window configurations as well as identifying a redwash that covered the brickwork.

L-1. NW side, inner surface, top of post, just below railing. Image expanded for details.
Visible Light Lower layers 100X. This sample fractured apart, so the cross-section included here has the paints beginning with Generation 4; the other portion of this sample includes the original cream color and slightly later pinkish-peachy color, as well as later resinous and cream-colored paints. (Cross-section photos: Susan Buck)

Susan worked both inside and out at the James Brice House collecting samples from the interior plaster finishes and walls, the woodwork, the exterior cornice, and even a yellow wash on the brick masonry. Based on her analysis, paint and plaster conservators are able to recreate painted finishes throughout. For example, she discovered 16 layers of paint in the entry, beginning with a deep yellow distemper on top of a sanded plaster which gave the appearance of stone. There are three different generations of modern plaster skimcoats sandwiched between the 16 generations of surviving wall paints in this cross-section, some of which can be related to later paints on the cornice. Conversely, the door leading to the study only had six generations. It is likely that all the woodwork in this room was originally painted blue, and in the cross-section below it is possible to see that the distinctive blue paint became discolored and degraded before it was painted over with the tannish grain-painting sequence in the second generation. Generation 3 is a tan paint, which is followed by later paints that can be aligned with woodwork paints in the entrance hall. The photomicrograph of the paint stratigraphy shows that the earliest three paint generations became quite dirty before being painted over, so considerable time elapsed between those repainting campaigns.

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  This sample was taken from the front hall and photographed at 40X. The tiny flake of paint and plaster in the cross-section confirms that the walls were originally painted with a deep yellow distemper paint

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  This cross-section sample is from the protected interior of the cupboard door in the office and was photographed at 200X. The paint sequence begins with a coarsely ground, oil-based blue paint made of a traditional combination of Prussian blue, lead white and calcium carbonate.

Dr. Susan Buck has been leading the way in paint analysis and conservation for over 30 years, and MHT cannot wait to continue working on projects across the state with her and other visionary women in preservation. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages throughout the rest of the month as we highlight projects from the National Park Service Underrepresented Community Grant project that is just wrapping up. This project is documenting sites related to the women’s suffrage movement, and the first post was about 817 North Charles Street in Baltimore.

The Ship Caulkers’ Houses: Honoring the Legacy of Baltimore’s Black Caulkers

By Sarah Groesbeck, Architectural Historian, & Secretary, Friends of the Ship Caulkers’ Houses 

1847 View of Baltimore from Federal Hill, by E. Whitefield (Library of Congress).

The Ship Caulkers’ Houses, located at 612-614 S Wolfe Street, Baltimore, are two one-and-one-half story wood frame houses in the Fell’s Point neighborhood. The houses are owned by the Society for the Preservation of Federal Hill and Fell’s Point, which has tasked the Friends of the Ship Caulkers’ Houses with the rehabilitation of the houses and finding a permanent, sustainable use for them. Our project to stabilize the Ship Caulkers’ Houses was awarded an African American Heritage Preservation Program (AAHPP) grant, which funded the critical stabilization of these fragile houses, which were close to collapse.

Rendering of the 600 Block of S. Wolfe Street, c.1820 (Arnold Capute).

Ship Caulkers’ Houses in 2018 before restoration work began

July 25, 1850, must have been a hot, sticky day in Baltimore’s Fell’s Point neighborhood. The harbor wharfs along its south side dominated life in Fell’s Point, providing a livelihood for its working-class residents and supplying a constant stream of sailors, merchants, and migrants from across the country and throughout the world. On this July day, a census taker stopped at what is now 614 S Wolfe Street, one of a row of eight identical story-and-a-half wood-frame houses. Stretching north from 614 to Fleet Street, each house measured a mere 12’x16’ and included one room on the first story, an attic loft above, and perhaps some form of lean-to addition on the back. Built ca. 1797 as a form of eighteenth-century speculative tract housing, these rental properties were home to a rotating cast of occupants who usually stayed no more than 5-10 years.

1850 Census Record for Richard Jones (Ancestry.com).

The 1850 tenants of 614 S Wolfe Street were the Jones’s, a free Black family headed by Richard (50 years old) and Rebecca (36 years old). The two had six living children: Ozius (14); Charles (13); Francis (6); Horace (3); Alex (8); and Maria (1). Additionally, the census taker listed a boarder, 45-year-old Lazarus Arnold, who lived with the eight Jones family members in this two-room house. Baltimore City Directories show that the Jones family had been living at this address since at least 1842 and in the vicinity even earlier. Richard Jones is listed as a caulker in the census; he was one of many Black ship caulkers living in Fell’s Point. Other Black caulkers who lived in the houses between 1840 and 1860 include John Offer (1840-1841), Henry Scott (1851-1854), and John Wittington (1853-1854).

During the eighteenth and nineteenth century, enslaved Blacks worked the ship building trades in Baltimore. Those who gained their freedom, and remained in Baltimore, passed their skills from father to son. By the 1840s, ship caulking, the process of making a vessel water-tight, was an almost exclusively African American trade in Baltimore that employed both free and enslaved Blacks. Newspaper articles in the 1840s-1850s, referred to them simply as “caulker” without specifying race because it was understood that Baltimore’s caulkers were Black.

This near monopoly provided free ship caulkers some leverage in a racist system that was stacked against them. Their wages were less than white workers, but significantly higher than the average Black worker’s wage in Baltimore. White shipyard owners tolerated and benefited from the Black caulkers’ dominance of their trade, because Black workers were paid lower wages and they worked in the owners’ yards with the understanding that they would boycott new shipyards and suppress competition.

Within the limits of the freedom they possessed, this group of free Black caulkers created a community to help and support each other. They formed a trade union and, through it, a Beneficial Society to provide aid to members who fell on difficult times such as unemployment, injury, or sickness. While these mutual aid societies were common throughout the United States through the nineteenth century, African American organizations were different than white ones, as they served the additional purpose of helping formerly enslaved members adjust to free life. This community also formed the East Baltimore Mental Improvement Society, a literary and debating society that was held in its members’ homes.

Literacy was important to Black Baltimoreans as a whole and Black literacy rates grew through the nineteenth century, thanks to schools such as the Dallas Street Church’s Sunday School on S Dallas St (the same block on which Douglass Place now sits). Sunday Schools like this one taught reading through Bible study, sometimes providing night classes for those working during the day. The Dallas Street Church’s Sunday School was the first Sunday School in the eastern half of Baltimore City and its first anniversary celebration was attended by Frederick Douglass in 1831 when he was still enslaved.

Richard Jones’s 1832 Certificate of Freedom (Maryland State Archives).

The limits of freedom, however, would have been visible daily. Although Baltimore was home to the largest free Black population in the country, it also was a large slave trading port. Free Black people like Richard Jones and his family had to record proof of their freedom and obtain a Certificate of Freedom.  But even with a recorded Certificate of Freedom, Maryland laws allowed free Black people to be sold into slavery if convicted of a crime or, after an 1832 vagrancy law was passed, for being “unproductive.”  Limits were placed on gathering and assemblies, including religious organizations. Ship caulkers lived and worked alongside enslaved people, some of whom became part of their community. Most famously, Frederick Douglass participated in the East Baltimore Mental Improvement Society before he escaped enslavement in 1838. Though legally he was not allowed to attend, the free members of the group risked their own safety by inviting him to attend and participate in the society.

Baltimore Sun advertisement for white caulkers (May 14, 1858).

The 1858 Caulkers Riots ended the approximately 20-year monopoly these Black caulkers held in Baltimore. In the spring of that year, white workers began agitating to replace the Black caulkers. The shipyard of J.D. Fardy & Bro., in Federal Hill, placed advertisements in the Baltimore Sun for “several good white caulkers” and began employing white caulkers. Soon after, groups of white men began harassing Black caulkers working in the other yards in Federal Hill; threats of violence became real when a mob of 40-50 white men attacked Black caulkers at the yard of A.J. Robinson, beating and stabbing a number of these men. The threats and attacks continued, forcing the Black caulkers to remain home and not work. The white “caulkers,” many of whom possessed no skill in the trade, forced shipyard owners (who now had no other options) to pay them full wages for their work. By late summer, the new status quo in Baltimore’s shipyards was Black and white caulkers. Violence against the Black caulkers continued through the Civil War and in September 1865, a strike by white workers resulted in an agreement to gradually replace Black caulkers with whites. 

The legacy of these Black ship caulkers has lasted far beyond the few decades they held the monopoly on their trade. Their ranks included Isaac Myers, who was influential in the formation of the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company as well as a labor and political leader. John W Locks, president of the Chesapeake Marine Railway, went on to be one of the wealthiest Black businessmen in Baltimore. Beyond these luminaries, research into the lives of ship caulkers has begun to uncover the stories of men who were leaders in the fraternal organizations, churches, and educational institutions that were so influential to Blacks in Baltimore during the second half of the nineteenth century. And ship caulking continued to be a viable trade for Black Baltimoreans who passed down the trade from father to son through the early twentieth century.

Over the years, the story of the ship caulkers and their connection to the houses at 612-614 S Wolfe Street had been largely forgotten and left untold. Preserving these houses is more than merely saving brick and timber; the houses provide a tangible link between the present and the past that cannot be made in any other way. The preservation of African American sites is essential to telling and understanding the Black experience in the United States throughout our history. These sites, along with those of other historically marginalized groups, are necessary to telling the full story of our shared history.

Elevations of the Ship Caulkers’ Houses showing their appearance once the exterior restoration is completed (Arnold Capute).

Our work to preserve the Ship Caulkers’ Houses has reached a major milestone with the completion of the stabilization of the houses, which are now once again standing on their own. This work continues; in January 2023 we began the restoration the houses’ exterior finishes (siding, roofing, windows, doors, and a reconstructed chimney). Once this work is completed, we’ll be back with a new post detailing the AAHPP grant work that has been completed over the past three years. In the meantime, follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @shipcaulkershouses. Visit our website, www.shipcaulkers.org, to learn more about the houses and how you can support this important work.

Announcing FY2023 African American Historic Preservation Program Grant Recipients!

By Ivy Weeks, Capital Programs Administrator

We are pleased to announce this year’s African American Heritage Preservation Program (AAHPP) grant recipients! Jointly administered by The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture and the Maryland Historical Trust, the AAHPP promotes the preservation of Maryland’s African American heritage by funding construction projects at significant sites throughout the state. This year’s projects include museums, cemeteries, an interpretive memorial, a historic lodge, community centers, and a historic school. Read more about our newly funded AAHPP grant projects below.

Mount Auburn Cemetery – Baltimore City ($100,000) | Sponsor: Mount Auburn Cemetery Company

Dedicated in 1872 and originally known as “The City of the Dead for Colored People,” Mount Auburn Cemetery was one of the first—and now only remaining—cemetery owned and operated by African Americans in Baltimore. It is a unique representation of the values and burial traditions of this community from the late 19th century to the present. Grant funds will support repairs to damaged decorative and security fencing, as well as resurfacing inner roadways.

Hoppy Adams House – Annapolis, Anne Arundel County ($100,000) | Sponsor: Charles W. “Hoppy” Adams Jr. Foundation, Inc.

Celebrated African American radio broadcaster for WANN Annapolis, Charles “Hoppy” Adams Jr was widely known for spreading soul and R&B music to Black and white audiences. Adams hosted popular concerts at Carr’s Beach, an important venue on the “Chitlin Circuit” during segregation. This project will rehabilitate the home Adams built for himself in 1964, which was left to the elements when he passed in 2005. Future phases of work will convert the space into a museum and event space to celebrate the life of Hoppy Adams and the unifying effect of R&B music during this divisive era.

Mt. Calvary United Methodist Church – Arnold, Anne Arundel County ($86,000) | Sponsor: Mount Calvary United Methodist Church

Mt. Calvary United Methodist Church began gathering on this site between 1832- 1842, making it the oldest African American congregation in Arnold. Grant funds will support the replacement of the 40-year-old roof and repairing the deteriorating handicap ramp that is currently causing moisture intrusion for the church, as well as adding a second ramp.

Eastport Elementary School, 3rd Street – Annapolis, Anne Arundel County ($100,000) | Sponsor: The Seafarers Yacht Club, Inc.

Originally built in 1918 as Eastport’s school for African American children, Eastport Elementary School closed when Anne Arundel School finally integrated, nearly a decade after Brown v Board of Education. Today, the building is owned by the Seafarers Yacht Club, Inc., formed in 1959 by a group of Black men with a shared interest in boating. They purchased the vacant building in 1967 after they were inspired to form their own club in response to marinas that routinely refused Black boaters to dock at their piers, as well as yacht clubs that denied membership to Black captains. This grant project will fund interior and exterior repairs and security improvements.

The club officers in dress whites, honoring a recently deceased member. Courtesy: Seafarers Yacht Club

Old Wallville School – Prince Frederick, Calvert County ($27,000) | Sponsor: Friends of the Old Wallville School, Inc.

A representation of the segregated educational facilities of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Old Wallville School is a one-room wooden schoolhouse that was used to educate African American students in the unincorporated village from 1880-1934. In 2006, the building was moved and placed adjacent to Calvert Elementary School. Now restored to its appearance in the early 1930s, it is used as a popular heritage tourism destination. This grant project will fund rot and roof repairs, structural signage replacement, and painting to protect the building from the elements and heavy use.

Parren J Mitchell House and Cultural Center – Baltimore City ($100,000) | Sponsor: Upton Planning Committee, Inc.

Originally built 1880, this rowhome is probably best known for its resident Parren Mitchell, the Black Congressmen to represent Maryland. This renovation project will return the long-vacant building to its historic role as a center of political and social life for the community and region as the new Parren Mitchell Center, which will serve as an events and retreat center. Grant funds will support exterior masonry restoration and repointing, window restoration, and accessibility improvements.

Boyds Negro School – Boyds, Montgomery County ($50,000) | Sponsor: Boyds Clarksburg Historical Society, Inc.

Built in 1895, Boyds Negro School is Montgomery County’s only remaining one-room schoolhouse for African American children that is regularly open to the public. This project will focus on engineering and site work to protect the building and grounds from flooding. It will also add a handicap ramp to make the building ADA accessible.

Richard Potter House – Denton, Caroline County ($50,000) | Sponsor: Fiber Arts Center of the Eastern Shore Inc.

Richard Potter published a book in 1866 – The Narrative of the Experience, Adventures and Escape of Richard Potter – documenting his experiences from when he was kidnapped in Greensboro, Maryland, enslaved in Delaware, and eventual escape and return to Caroline County to what is now known as the Richard Potter House (c.1810). The site is included as part of the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom. This project will restore the first floor of the home to its 1855 interior, using it as a museum and classroom space.

Mt. Zion Memorial Church– Princess Anne, Somerset County ($86,000) | Sponsor: Somerset County Historical Trust, Inc.

Mt. Zion Memorial Church survives as one of the few late-19th century African American churches in Somerset County and its intact condition enhances its architectural significance. Inside, one of the most distinctive features of the building — the early-20th century bead board ceiling – is at risk due to a leaking roof. While Mt. Zion is no longer used to hold regular church services, it does reflect the lasting influence of Methodism on the African American community in Somerset County. Grant funds will repair severe water damage.

New Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church – Berlin, Worcester County ($67,000) | Sponsor: New Bethel United Methodist Church, Inc.

Founded in 1855, New Bethel is the oldest African American Methodist congregation in Worcester County. Known as the Godfather of gospel music, Rev. Charles Albert Tindley was a member of the church in boyhood, and attended when he would visit from Philadelphia as an adult. The grant project will fund roof replacement and carpentry repairs.

Ridgley Methodist Church – Landover, Prince George’s County ($50,000) | Sponsor: Mildred Ridgley Gray Charitable Trust, Inc.

Through exhibitions and educational programs, the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center shares the county’s untold stories of African Americans. The grant-funded pre-development project will involve the design of facility renovations. They will also build an addition to provide support and affordable housing space for Black artists.

St. James African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church – Towson, Baltimore County ($30,000) | Sponsor: St. James African Union Methodist Protestant Church, Inc

In 1881, the St. James African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church was built on property believed to be the first documented African American landholding in Towson. The church began as a one-story wood-frame building and was raised to two stories in 1906 to accommodate the congregation’s growth. This project will fund structural repairs to the roof framing and chimney, as well as full roof replacement.

Buffalo Soldier Park – Eden, Wicomico County ($74,000) | Sponsor: Greater Washington Dc Chapter Of The Ninth And Tenth (Horse) Cavalry Association, Inc.

Named “Buffalo Soldier House” for his time in the United States 9th Cavalry Regiment Company C, Thomas Polk, Sr. built a two-story home on his property sometime in the late 1920s and rebuilt it in 1962-63 after it was destroyed in a fire. This project will focus on the pre-development and renovations needed to convert his home into the Buffalo Soldier Living History Site, which will include a visitors’ center and exhibit space.

Adams Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery – Lothian, Anne Arundel County ($80,000) | Sponsor: Adams U.M. Church

Adams Methodist Episcopal Church site contains two church buildings: the original 1883 church, a simple weatherboard-sided late-Victorian structure; and a more modern brick church, completed in 1968. Work for this project will focus on the brick church and on the graveyard on site.

If you are planning to apply for funding for an AAHPP project, the FY2024  grant round will begin in the spring of 2023, with workshops in April and applications due July 1. For more information about AAHPP, please visit our website or contact Ivy Weeks, Capital Programs Administrator, at ivy.weeks@maryland.gov.

Annapolis State House: Past and Present

By Dr. Brenna Spray, MHT Outreach Coordinator

Today is Inauguration Day for Maryland’s new Governor, Wes Moore, who will be sworn into office outside the Maryland State House, once used by the Continental Congress and the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use in the country. This makes it the perfect place for such a historic moment in Maryland history, and a perfect opportunity to showcase the newly restored State House dome.

Maryland State House, 1786.
“The State House here is certainly an elegant Building. The Room we are to sit in is perhaps the prettyest in America.” From Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1783 November 28

The History of the State House and Dome

There have been no fewer than three capitol buildings on State Circle in Annapolis, with architect Joseph Horatio Anderson and builder Charles Wallace beginning work on the third State House in early 1772. The State House would have been an impressive building in Annapolis, towering above the buildings around it. In 1781, Jean-Francois-Louis de Clermont-Crèvecoeur, a lieutenant in Rochambeau’s army that fought in the American Revolution, wrote about the State House during his time in North America. He called it the “most beautiful of any in America…a beautiful colonnaded peristyle elevated above the ground.” Similarly, during his time on the eastern seaboard, French army chaplain Abbé Claude Robin wrote in 1781 that the “state-house is a very beautiful building, I think the most so of any I have seen in America. The peristyle is set off with pillars, and the edifice is topped with a dome.”

Sketch of the Maryland State House, Charles Willson Peale, July 1789.
“The most beautiful edifice…a magnificent peristyle, adorned with columns, gives an air majestueux this building surmounted by a dome done the proportions are very well-formed for optics.” Joseph Mandrillon, 1785.

The focus for many contemporary writers appears to be on the positioning of the building, its columns, and the dome that sat on the top. However, Clermont-Crèvecoeur does mention that the dome was too small “since its contour is pierced by only six windows that are too small for the space they must light.” By 1785, reports indicated that the roof of the dome had begun to leak. At this time, more people beyond Clermont-Crèvecoeur had also noticed the dome’s diminutive size, so local architect and builder Joseph Clark was hired to design and build the expanded dome we see today. He completed the exterior of the dome in 1792, which is when the carpenter’s and plasterer’s contracts were awarded for the interior of the dome. Local cabinetmaker John Shaw took over the completion of the interior of the dome in 1794, when Clark left Annapolis for a career in the newly established Washington, DC. Shaw finished the remainder of the State House dome by 1797.

Who Built the State House and Dome?

During the Revolutionary War, many skilled workers left Annapolis. This caused difficulties for builders in the city, who could not find craftsmen for their projects (and eventually contributed to Annapolis losing the prominence it once had to Baltimore). Securing workers to build both the original State House and its redesigned dome was a continuous issue. As an example, Clark was unable to find locally the 30 journeyman carpenters he initially advertised for in April 1785. Due to these shortages in Annapolis, we do know that carpenters were brought down from Baltimore, and that the state paid passage for “sundry” carpenters from Ireland and England. For instance, there is correspondence to Charles Wallace in 1771 discussing the possibility of bringing two house carpenters and joiners over from London to the United States. We also have records of free and enslaved Black carpenters, joiners, sawyers, blacksmiths, and laborers who were hired out or sold throughout Annapolis during this period. While Clark did not maintain an enslaved workforce for his building projects, he was a slaveholder and not averse to using forced labor.

Together, this suggests that a combination of skilled and unskilled free Black, enslaved Black, free white, and indentured white workers likely built the State House and new dome. Ongoing research is focusing on uncovering the identities of these artisans who helped build the State House, both enslaved and free. Through primary documents, researchers have identified some white craftsmen, such as carpenters Joshua Botts and William Gilmour and plasterer Thomas Dance. Dance took on the dome’s interior plaster contract and fell to his death while working on the project. To date, no Black craftsmen have been definitively identified. A new avenue of research will be to examine the contemporary names inscribed on the timber beams of the interior dome.

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  Maryland State House, 1876-1882. “…one of the most superb buildings in the United States.” John Melish in Travels through the United States of America. London, 1818.

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  Heavy-timber framing with inscription on center beam.

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  Michael Day and Marcia Miller (MHT Chief of the Office of Research, Survey, and Registration) discussing the restoration work done on the weathervane.

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  Heavy-timber framing showing the inner and outer domes with marriage marks identifying paired joints of the interior structure.

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  Collin Ingraham (MHT Chief of the Office of Preservation Services) approving the method of paint removal.

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  Heavy-timber framing with builders’ marriage marks at joints.

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  The sash of one of the dome’s windows during restoration work.

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  Heavy-timber framing, with contemporary marriage marks and modern inscriptions.

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  The acorn, which sits on top of the dome.

The Dome Restoration

Drone image of State House dome, 2018 (MCWB Architects)

The dome is a massive heavy-timber-framed roof system, constructed with traditional pinned joints and original wrought iron straps. The exterior is covered with slate and cypress shingles. The dome is topped with an acorn, originally crafted from cypress wood and covered with copper panels. These panels were gilded on the top and painted on the bottom. The acorn, which provides stability to the wrought iron lightning rod, utilized a common motif at the time to represent perfection (perhaps a trait that Clark hoped the State House would go on to emulate).

Remarkably intact, with mostly original materials, the dome and the State House it sits on can certainly still be considered the “most beautiful of any in America”—particularly after the year-long collaborative effort between the Maryland Department of General Services and the Maryland Historical Trust towards its restoration, the beginning of a comprehensive exterior and grounds project. The scaffolding that went up in April has now been removed, unveiling the freshly painted dome and ending this first phase of the project.

This part of the project focused on all areas of the dome: restoration of the lower lantern balcony and balustrade, restoration of window sashes and trim, replacement of slate, and repair and replacement of wood shingles. The original weathervane and lightning rod were restored, and the acorn was regilded and painted. The dome was painted with a traditional linseed oil paint, with the historic colors selected through paint analysis.

The firm of Mesick, Cohen, Wilson, Baker Architects from Albany, New York, served as project architect for this restoration and the Christman Company of Sterling, Virginia, served as the general contractor. Numerous subcontractors and consultants, highly skilled in the analysis, conservation, and buildings technologies of the 18th century, have ensured the preservation of this iconic dome for generations to come.