By Morgan Miller-Scarborough, Independent Historian
A photo of Emory Grove United Methodist Church taken in 1974 (courtesy of MHT)
A little over one year ago, the Maryland Historical Trust published a Facebook post about the Emory Grove Camp Meeting in Glyndon, Maryland. However, there was another Emory Grove Camp Meeting in Gaithersburg, Maryland. They were two completely different camp meetings that were not related to one another. Although much of Gaithersburg’s Emory Grove community has been lost, the site and its history still serve as an exceptional example of African American heritage in Montgomery County.
I came to know this difference in Emory Groves through my research on the town of Washington Grove; another Maryland Methodist camp meeting that ended up dissolving the Camp Meeting Association and becoming incorporated as a town in the 1930s. I learned that these two camp meetings were essentially next to each other. Today, you will see Washington Grove in a state of incredible preservation, but you will then not be able to really see where the Emory Grove camp was.
The Emory Grove United Methodist Church is the only building left standing from the Emory Grove Community and their camp meeting days. Despite being one of the oldest black communities in the county, the area has been largely replaced with apartment buildings and suburban development. The Emory Grove Camp Meeting and the Emory Grove Community were established between 1864 and 1870 when formerly enslaved people moved from Redland and Goshen and purchased land. The first church and school started in 1876 at the home of John Dorsey, a Civil War veteran who had begun working in the Lord’s service after he won his freedom. An African American public-school system was inaugurated in 1872 and the camp meetings were generally a place for people to gather for song and praise services.
Although it is cited as one of the more popular camp meetings in Maryland, in 1876 the people of Emory Grove had lost the right to use the campground that had been in use for two previous years. The newspapers of the time did not report why this happened, but the camp was able to resume in 1879. During the interim time the Christian Advocate, a popular Methodist newspaper, called on nearby Washington Grove to open their camp meeting to the people of Emory but not help them maintain their autonomy. This meant that the newspaper did not call for Emory Grove to have the management of the land returned. After this call to open their camp, Washington Grove then printed an invitation on July 25, 1877 in the Montgomery County Sentinel for the people from Emory Gove to worship there. Emory Grove and Washington Grove had more interactions over the years, but the relationship did not reach the same closeness as it did in 1877.
The camp meetings of Emory Grove ended in the 1960s and the land was largely rebuilt in the 1970s. The Emory Grove community is now spread out over the state but the congregation is still thriving to this day.
For more information on the Emory Grove United Methodist Church:
“History of Emory Grove United Methodist Church,” Vision/History, Emory Grove United Methodist Church, accessed March 5, 2020, https://emorygrovechurch.org/mission/.
Maude Taylor, Dedication Notes for Emory Grove Park Fall 1974, found in the Emory Grove Camp Meeting Grounds Maryland Historical Trust Inventory Form for State Historic Sites Survey, August 28, 1974, https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/Medusa/PDF/Montgomery/M;%2020-8.pdf.
“Camp,” Montgomery County Sentinel, July 25, 1877. Found at the Maryland State Archives (MSA SC 2813).
Philip K. Edwards, Washington Grove 1873-1937: A History of the Washington Grove Camp Meeting Association (Washington Grove: Philip K. Edwards, 1988).
by: Reverend Deb Scott and Jackie Noller, Chair, Lovely Lane 21st Century Committee
After her recent visit to historic Lovely Lane United Methodist Church, Melissa Lauber, the Director of Communications for the Baltimore Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, made the following observation: “On a pilgrimage, one crosses a threshold from the ordinary to the extraordinary. The beige and colorless overtones of everyday life are swept away by insights and experiences as the possibilities of living in full color open before you. In its simplest forms, pilgrimage is a journey toward the sacred. These journeys exist in almost every culture throughout history. Hearts are enlivened and lives are changed. But the journey doesn’t have to be gilded in lofty ideals.
Everyday adventures – when marked by intention – allow you to step outside your daily boundaries and be somehow transformed. In many ways tourists, who travel to see and marvel, resemble pilgrims. Their itineraries and destinations are often the same; but pilgrims carry with them a unique quality of curiosity. Their hearts stand wide-open and interior and exterior boundaries blend in unusual ways as they seek a sense of discovery and meaning. ‘Pilgrims‘, said theologian Richard Niebuhr, are ‘poets who create by taking journeys.’” We at Lovely Lane are so grateful to the Maryland Historical Trust for its vision to co-partner to make this capital project possible, making a historic site a destination for both tourism and pilgrimages (Photos #1 and 2).
Photo #1 – Lovely Lane United Methodist Church
Photo #2 – Sanctuary Interior, Lovely Lane United Methodist Church
Lovely Lane United Methodist Church houses the Mother Church of American Methodism in Baltimore. Our extant building was dedicated in 1887 as the centennial monument to the founding of American Methodism. Stanford White — of the New York City firm of McKim, Mead & White — designed the church under the supervision of the pastor, Rev. John F. Goucher. The church was built in the Romanesque style similar to early churches and basilicas in Italy. The church sanctuary and connected chapel occupy over 17,000 square feet, showcasing original black birch altar woodwork, Lathrop and Tiffany windows, a painted celestial ceiling and pipe organs. The square tower, patterned after a 12th century church near Ravenna, Italy, lights the night sky. The building has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1973.
In July 2020, MHT awarded a $100,000 grant from the Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program to Lovely Lane to restore 19th century Tiffany windows in the building’s chapel adjacent to the church sanctuary. The church’s building committee applied for the grant to help finance a catalytic multi-component capital project begun in 2019 to restore and rehabilitate underused space in its building. The larger project goal is to promote greater public use of the historic building and enhance revenue diversity by creating the Lovely Lane Arts & Neighborhood Center within the walls of this urban location. With decades of sound stewardship in place, the congregation believes our well-cared for property is best positioned with rehabilitation to serve the underserved with dignity and to share space with other organizations sustainably.
Restoration of the Tiffany windows in the chapel portion of the 1887 building helped ensure a weather-tight building fabric. With the subsequent installation of a cooling system in this space, the chapel will be able to comfortably host future public performances and exhibitions. The committee hired the restoration firm Worcester-Eisenbrandt, Inc. (WEI) to carry out the exacting work in the fall and winter of 2021. The scope of work included restoration on three floor levels of the chapel’s historic windows: 1) 12-foot archtop-stained-glass windows on the main floor; 2) eyebrow windows on the mezzanine level; and 3) exterior dormer windows on roof level that provide light into interior clerestory tri-partite stained-glass windows (Photo #3). Each level required different restoration work and budgetary prioritization.
Photo #3 – Exterior view of above-grade Chapel exterior with 3 levels of historic windows
Main floor windows had the sash removed and restored at WEI’s mill shop, and the frames were restored by field craftsmen. The cloudy acrylic panels were removed from the sash and either disposed or used as temporary protection for the eyebrow and dormer openings while the sashes were removed. Larger acrylic panels were inserted into wood frames and used as protection at the first floor (Photo #4, 5 and 6). The existing glazing putty and the glass were removed and set aside.
Photo #4 – Exterior window removal
Photo #5 – Interior after removal
Photo #6 – Installation of temporary acrylic panels
Sash and frames were stripped of paint and repaired with epoxy or Dutchmen. The glass was reinstalled after the repairs had cured, and then both the frames and sash were primed and painted. There was no missing stained glass, and any cracks were stabilized and sealed with Hxtal. New 1⁄4-inch acrylic was installed as storm panels on the archtop windows to restore a more luminous transparency, and all sashes were reinstalled (Photos #7 and #8).
Photo #7 – Exterior view, restored archtop windows
Photo #8 – Interior view, restored archtop windows
Mezzanine and dormer levels restoration work included replacement of water damaged sills and hardware. Adjustments were made to the flashing at the eyebrows and dormers to make each weather tight (Photos #9, 10 and 11).
Photo #11 – Interior view of restored dormer window sash
One interesting feature of this work to date is its all-female leadership. From left to right in the Photo #12 below are: Cailin McGough, Cap Ex Advisory Group, the owner’s representative or contractor project manager; Rev. Deborah Scott the church pastor in charge of contract negotiation; Katherine Good, Waldon Studio Architects, architectural project manager; and Amy Hollis from Worcester-Eisenbrandt, Inc., contractor project manager.
Photo #12 – Lovely Lane windows restoration team
Lovely Lane United Methodist Church leaders believe continued fundraising success will permit the final restoration of the remaining archtop stained-glass windows on the Chapel’s main floor and South Tower. Completion of this work will provide additional transparency so that increased daylight will illuminate the building’s interiors as the windows were so designed to do when the building was dedicated in 1887. (Photo #13).
Photo #13 – Exterior view of restored (left) vs unrestored windows (right)
To learn more about MHT’s Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program please visit the program website.
MHT has an ongoing project to document Asian American heritage in Baltimore City and the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, with funding from the National Park Service’s Underrepresented Community Grant program. Check out this research update from architectural historian Nicole A. Diehlmann of RK&K who is working on this exciting project!
Large-scale immigration from China to the United States began in response to the discovery of gold in northern California in 1848. Many immigrants arrived in San Francisco from the Guangdong province in southern China, which had suffered from political instability and natural disasters. Seeking opportunity in the United States, Chinese immigrants first found employment in northern California’s gold mines and later on the Transcontinental Railroad. When the railroad was completed in 1867, some Chinese workers began to move out of California to the eastern United States.
Chinese immigration to Maryland did not accelerate until the late nineteenth century. The 1870 census indicates only two Chinese people living in the state. Ten years later, that number had only increased to five, but by 1890, there were 189 Chinese people living in Maryland. In 1900, the number had nearly tripled to 544 individuals—480 were foreign born residents, while 64 people had been born in the United States. The vast majority, 426 individuals, lived in Baltimore City. Most lived near the intersection of Marion and Liberty Streets, not far from Baltimore’s bustling port in the Inner Harbor. This area, which became known as “Chinatown,” was the residential and commercial center of the Chinese immigrant community. Some Chinese people lived outside of Chinatown, but still within the city, particularly those who operated laundries, which were found throughout Baltimore. Others lived outside of the city, such as members of the Lee family who were vegetable farmers in Lansdowne. As the number of Chinese residents in the Baltimore area grew, they established organizations and businesses to provide social, economic, and political support for the growing community.
1901 Sanborn Map indicating “Chinese Joints” and a Chinese Restaurant at the northwest corner of Park and Marion Streets in Baltimore (LOC).
Historic maps and newspaper articles record the history of these early immigrants. Language in these newspaper articles reflected prevailing attitudes of Caucasians toward Asian immigrants at the time, and the articles often used derogatory terms and condescending tone, at best treating the traditions and customs of the Chinese community as novel spectacle and at worst with derision. Many newspaper articles relate to police raids, illustrating the suspicion and over-policing suffered by Chinese residents; however, they also provide a wealth of details about the people and places associated with the Chinese community. Chinatown contained a diverse mix of businesses and residences. Many of the buildings were multipurpose, housing businesses, restaurants, and domestic and religious spaces under one roof. The 1890 Sanborn fire insurance map indicates Chinese laundries at 10 Park Avenue and 677 West Baltimore Street. The 1901 Sanborn map indicates a Chinese restaurant at 114 Park Avenue and other establishments referred to as “Chinese Joints” just west along Marion Street. Lum Bing was the proprietor of the restaurant on the second floor of 114 Park Avenue, according to an 1896 Sun article. The building also housed the San Francisco–based Chinese importing firm of Quong Hing Lung Chong Kee & Company, which was run by Lee Yat and Hop Lung, as well as residences. The family of Lee Yat lived at 311 Marion Street. An 1894 Sun article noted that the Lee’s two daughters were the first Chinese babies born in Baltimore. Mee Lim was the proprietor of the Park Avenue restaurant in 1923. Upon his death he had an estate worth over $12,000 dollars that was distributed to the School Board as he had no heirs. In addition, the 1901 Sanborn map indicates a Chinese laundry at 102 Liberty Street that was operated by Wang Sing and Su Hong in 1899 and Der Pop in 1902, all of whom also lived in the building. At 208 West Fayette Street, there was a “Joss House,” which is the English term for a Buddhist or Taoist temple or altar.
1914 Sanborn Map indicating Chinese restaurants, dwellings, and a Joss House along Marion and West Fayette Streets, west of Park Avenue (LOC).
The 1914 Sanborn map shows a three-story Joss House at 217 Marion Street, two three-story Chinese-occupied dwellings at 203 and 205 Marion Street, and a restaurant at 202 West Fayette Street. 203 Marion Street was noted in an 1894 Sun article as a store operated by Joe Kee, who operated the Chey Shing Chung & Co., a Chinese grocery, dry goods, and embroidery dealer. 217 Marion Street was called a “Chinese resort” with Ah Goo as the proprietor in a 1901 Sun article about a police raid on the property where 13 individuals were arrested for playing fan-tan, a 2,000-year-old gambling game that Chinese immigrant workers brought to the United States. The 1914 Sanborn map indicates that 217 Marion Street also housed a Joss House, which was likely installed circa 1903. That Marion Street house was also the site of a celebration recognizing the new Republic of China and the rise to leadership of Sun Yat Sen in 1912, when a flag of the new republic was hung from the second story and a picture of Sun was placed on the wall. The restaurant at 202 West Fayette was called the Empire and was operated by Der Doo. In 1919, Rector’s Chinese and American restaurant, under the management of Dr. Wu, opened along the same block at 208 West Fayette.
There were several Chinese restaurants along West Fayette Street in the early twentieth century, including the Empire at 202 and Rector’s at 208. The Empire building is extant, but Rector’s has been demolished. (Empire Restaurant from Google Street View, October 2017; Rector’s Ad from the Evening Sun, November 18, 1919;)
Articles in the Sun from this era describe various Chinese cultural traditions from the perspective of white observers. An 1895 article describes Teng Meng, a day where offerings are left on the graves of ancestors. It notes that eight wagons left from the Chinese Masonic Temple in Baltimore—three went to Cedar Hill Cemetery on what is now Ritchie Highway in Anne Arundel County and five to Mount Olivet Cemetery on Frederick Road, where there were eight Chinese graves. The article states that offerings of “boiled chicken, bananas, raisins, nuts, cigarettes, opium and whisky” were left at the gravesites. A 1903 Sun article described the Lunar New Year celebration in Chinatown, noting that the Chinese grocery and supply stores and restaurants did great business serving the growing Chinese community. The festival, which traditionally lasts two to four weeks in China, occurred over four days in Baltimore due to “the restrictions placed on the enthusiasm of the celebrants by the police.”
Feeling development pressure from the booming department stores and five-and-dime stores along North Howard and West Lexington Streets, the center of Chinatown moved northward along Park Avenue to West Mulberry Street after World War I. The buildings north of Marion Street were demolished circa 1929 to make way for an expansion of the Julius Gutman Company department store. There were many Chinese businesses and residences along the 300 and 400 blocks of Park Avenue and the 200 block of West Mulberry Street. The 1922 Polk’s Baltimore City Directory lists six Chinese goods dealers on these blocks. The Baltimore branch of the On Leong Merchant’s Association was established in 1920 and had offices at 215 West Mulberry Street, but later moved 323 Park Avenue.
The On Leong Chinese Merchant’s Association moved to this building at 323 Park Avenue in 1950. (Nicole Diehlmann 2021)
Baltimore City’s Chinese population began to decline during the Great Depression. A Sun article from 1937 noted that “Baltimore’s 400-odd Chinese are scattered about, although they once lived homogeneously in the neighborhood about Mulberry Street and Park Avenue.” The article notes that those remaining in Baltimore still engaged in trades such as restaurants and laundries, although some became noodle manufacturers such as Tom You, proprietor of the Quong Chow Noodle Company at 209 West Mulberry Street.
Chinatown continued to shrink in the post–World War II era. The north side of the 200 block of West Mulberry Street was demolished for a parking garage by 1952, and buildings on the south side were slowly demolished over the late twentieth century. Other businesses opened outside of Chinatown, like the China Clipper at 1003 North Charles Street and the New China Inn at 2426 North Charles Street. Some growth continued to occur within Chinatown, however, as landmark restaurants, such as the White Rice Inn at 320 Park Avenue and the China Doll at 406 Park Avenue, opened in Chinatown in the 1940s. A combination of urban renewal in the late 1950s and the repeal and creation of several national laws in the 1960s led to an exodus of many Chinese Americans from Baltimore to the suburbs. By 1963, 2,188 Chinese people resided in Maryland, and of those, only 748 lived in Baltimore City. Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 removed barriers to race-based discrimination and allowed Chinese and other Asian Americans to freely move to suburban areas, further continuing the decline in Baltimore City’s Chinese population.
Buildings on the 300 block of Park Avenue, at the center of Chinatown, continue to house variety of Chinese businesses and organizations (Nicole Diehlmann 2021)
The changes in the Baltimore Chinese community and the decline of Baltimore’s Chinatown were noted in a 1969 Sun article. Mrs. George Tang stated that Chinese serving in World War II gained new skills that allowed them to get jobs in new industries. Their prosperity allowed their children to attend college and embark on careers far different from the laundry and restaurant jobs that were the mainstay of the earliest Chinese immigrants. She further noted that they “have a freer kind of existence. They’re accepted by the rest of society.” New businesses and a small Caucasian “Bohemian population” were changing the composition of Chinatown. In the mid-1970s, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association attempted to acquire land at Park Avenue and Mulberry Street for a 14-story Asian Culture Center, but their effort was unsuccessful. Many buildings formerly occupied by Chinese immigrants in Chinatown are currently vacant and in poor condition; however, the vestiges of this once vital Chinese community are still apparent and worthy of preservation.
by Allison Luthern, Architectural Survey Administrator
Historical architectural survey describes the process of locating, identifying, and recording historic places. It is the important initial step of all historic preservation activities – we need to start by understanding what exists where. The Maryland Historical Trust has supported architectural survey since our founding in the 1960s. The results of our architectural surveys are contained within the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (MIHP).
MHT’s Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Program recently funded survey work by architectural historian Paul Touart in Somerset County, including properties on Smith Island. Smith Island is the last surviving inhabited island off the shores of Maryland in the Chesapeake Bay. Early in its history, the island was occupied by the Pocomoke and Assateague peoples, Native American tribes who also lived along the Eastern Shore streams. The first English landowner was Henry Smith (the island’s namesake) in the middle of the 17th century. Anglo-Americans continued to inhabit Smith Island through the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
Smith’s Island, Lake, Griffing & Stevenson Map, 1877.
The recent survey project documented one of the oldest surviving buildings on Smith Island, known as Black Walnut Point. Its inventory number in the MIHP is S-536-6. The architectural survey provides a physical description of the house: It has a two-story, three-bay side hall/parlor plan main block supported on a stuccoed masonry foundation with an exterior sheathed in beaded weatherboards. The gable roof is covered with wood shingles. Attached to the back of the main block is a two-story, two-part service wing that dates from the third quarter of the 19th century, around 1860-70.
Black Walnut Point, photo by Paul B. Touart
The survey also details the property’s history through its ownership by two prominent Smith Island families, the Tylers and Marshalls. Today, it is the Smith Island Education Center.
Black Walnut Point, photo by Paul B. Touart
Beginning in the second half of the 19th century through the early 20th century, the Lower Shore region experienced growth and economic prosperity associated with new railway lines, agriculture, and the seafood industry – the latter being particularly important for Smith Island. During this time period, each of the three Smith Island communities (Tylerton, Ewell, and Rhodes Point) built a new Methodist church building. These three churches were also surveyed in our recent project.
Ewell United Methodist Church (S-536-1) is a single-story, gable front building on a raised, rusticated block foundation. It has a symmetrical façade and is topped by a square belfry. It was built in 1939-40 on a site that has long been associated with the practice of Methodism. Adjacent to the church is a parsonage, a tabernacle, and a cemetery.
Ewell United Methodist Church, photo by Paul B. Touart
Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church (S-536-4) is located in the center of Rhodes Point. It is a single-story, L-shaped building with a marble date stone that reads: “1921 / Calvary M.E. Church / Reverend J.L. Derrickson.” It is also surrounded by a large cemetery with both in-ground and above ground vaulted burial plots.
Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church, photo by Paul B. Touart
The third church, Union Methodist Episcopal Church (S-536-8), is in Tylerton. It was built around 1920-1930, using salvaged materials from an earlier 1896 church. It is a rectangular shaped church on a raised, rusticated block foundation with a large columned projecting pavilion flanked by towers. Like many historic Methodist churches, the sanctuary inside is on the upper level.
Union Methodist Episcopal Church, photo by Paul B. Touart
If you want to learn more, you can view all MIHP survey records, including more properties on Smith Island, on our website, https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/.
By Dr. Zachary Singer (MHT Research Archaeologist)
The theme for Maryland Archeology Month 2022 is “The Future of Studying the Past:Innovative Technologies in Maryland Archeology”. One suite of innovative technologies that is being highlighted is remote sensing: methods which allow archaeologists to detect cultural resources buried beneath the ground surface. Remote sensing technologies have transformed how archaeologists study the past. Today, with the aid of high precision GPS receivers and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping software, the coordinates of potential archaeological resources can be precisely located via remote sensing, recorded and plotted in GIS, and then surgically examined through excavations pinpointed to their exact locations.
Over the years, the MHT Office of Archaeology had dabbled with these technologies, carrying out some limited survey with magnetic susceptibility technologies or partnering with others for such work. Beginning in 2019, MHT Chief Archaeologist, Matt McKnight, began a push to acquire additional equipment with which to undertake a more rigourous terrestrial remote sensing research program. The remote sensing technologies deployed by our office include a magnetic susceptibility meter (MagSusc), a fluxgate gradiometer, and a ground penetrating radar (GPR) system. We also utilize a high-precision GPS system capable of pinpointing a location on the Earth’s Surface accurate to within 7 millimeters (or about 1/4 inch).
MHT archaeologists have assisted with remote sensing surveys on archaeological sites throughout Maryland and identified many intriguing anomalies suggestive of archaeological features. However, as is always the case with remote sensing data, these potential features are just that: potential features. Without archaeological ground truthing through excavation it is not possible to conclude with absolute certainty what the various anomalies identified via remote sensing represent. Fortunately, our office has collaborated with many members of the Maryland archaeology community to ground truth (or physically excavate) some of the intriguing anomalies identified via our remote sensing surveys to determine their forms, functions, and ages. Below, we present a sampling of some of these exciting ground truthing results.
Barwick’s Ordinary (Caroline County)
MHT archaeologists carried out a geophysical remote sensing survey at the Barwick’s Ordinary Site on the Choptank River in Caroline County during the summers of 2019 and 2020 to examine a field where the owners of the property had encountered colonial artifacts during a prior landscaping project. The primary objectives of remote sensing at the site were to obtain detailed imaging of the subsurface features believed to be yielding the artifacts recovered on the property. Magnetic susceptibility, gradiometry, and GPR surveys on the property revealed several anomalies suggestive of buried architectural elements.
Annotated results of the MagSusc, Gradiometer, and GPR remote sensing surveys at Barwick’s Ordinary.
In the fall of 2020, with assistance from ASM volunteers, locals, and Professor Julie Markin of Washington College, a few small test units were excavated to ground truth the anomalies at Barwick’s. The results confirm that the site contains well-preserved, artifact rich, mid-late 18th century archaeological features. Come participate in additional ground truthing excavations this summer at the Annual Tyler Bastian Field Session, which will take place at Barwick’s Ordinary from May 20-30, 2022.
Dr. Matt McKnight ground truthing a GPR anomaly, which was revealed to be the corner of a likely 18th-century privy at the Barwick’s Ordinary site.
Calverton (Calvert County)
In the summer of 2020, MHT archaeologists conducted a ground penetrating radar survey at the 17th-century Calverton Site in Calvert County in an area located within 10 meters of the eroding edge of Battle Creek. The creek is slowly destroying the site and the goal of the GPR survey was to identify anomalies in the portion of the site most at risk of loss from shoreline erosion. The GPR survey would later be investigated via ground truthing using traditional archaeological methods.
Annotated results of the GPR remote sensing survey at Calverton, highlighting the location of a shaft anomaly, which ground truthing determined to be a 17th-century cellar (CLICK IMAGE TO EXPAND).
Seven likely anthropogenic features were identified in the GPR survey at Calverton. Eight test units were excavated by Applied Archaeology and History Associates during the summer of 2020 to assess these GPR anomalies. The excavations resulted in the identification of ten cultural features, which yielded late 17th- and early 18th-century artifacts including tobacco pipes, a Charles I sixpence coin (1639-1645), and sherds of tin-glazed earthenware. The largest and most artifact-dense feature related to the colonial occupation of Calverton was an in-filled cellar.
Photo of the 17th century cellar feature after it was bisected to ground truth the GPR anomaly.
Maiden’s Choice (Washington County)
In the spring of 2021, MHT conducted a GPR survey at the Maiden’s Choice I site in Washington County to search for buried domestic structures. The GPR survey revealed the presence of an anomaly suggestive of a subsurface foundation remnant roughly 40 ft east-west by 20 ft north-south, and with an apparent chimney remnant (roughly 5 X 5 ft) near the center. In the fall of 2021, MHT collaborated with the Western Chapter of the Archeological Society of Maryland to excavate three test units to ground truth these GPR anomalies. The ground truthing excavations uncovered remnant rubble stone foundations with artifacts recovered from the plowzone dating primarily to the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
3D models of the excavation units that revealed the remains of a late 18th century foundation.
Domestic artifacts were present such as furniture tacks, buttons, clay marbles, handwrought nails and coins including a 1776 Spanish half-reale, a pierced 1796 half dime, and a “draped bust” American half cent (1800-1808). A Napoleon Bonaparte First Consulate German jetton was also recovered. A jetton is a commemorative token or medal and this one likely dates to the years 1799-1804, before Napolean was coronated as Emperor. The fall 2021 excavations suggest that this site is a domestic site associated with the Barnes-Mason family that occupied the Maiden’s Choice property after 1773.
Fortunately, in the three examples discussed above, ground truthing of remote sensing anomalies resulted in the discovery of artifact rich archaeological features. However, this is not always the case. Remote sensing anomalies can also be caused by natural occurrences like bioturbation from plant roots and animal burrows. Accordingly, although it is tempting to jump straight from remote sensing results to archaeological site interpretation, the step of ground truthing cannot be skipped. Excavations will always be necessary to determine whether remote sensing anomalies are in fact the remains of exciting archaeological features or less exciting gopher holes.
By Chris Givan (JPPM Digital Education Coordinator) and Noah Boone (JPPM Digital Education Content Developer)
Photogrammetry is a technique for creating 3D models, which is increasingly common in cultural and research contexts. At Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, we’ve been using photogrammetry to create models of archaeological sites and artifacts that may not be accessible to visitors or which may be of interest to folks for whom the park is inaccessible because of its location. Thanks to a project funded by an IMLS CARES Act Grant for Museums and Libraries, we’ve begun to provide photogrammetric models as Open Education Resources (OER) and are exploring how to replicate, at home or in the classroom, the experience of visiting archaeological sites or interacting with artifacts.
Photogrammetry software creates 3-dimensional data by analyzing photos taken at multiple angles around a subject. This can be done using a variety of programs, both proprietary (Agisoft Metashape, Reality Capture, etc) and free-and-open-source (Meshroom, MicMac, etc). This process requires a high degree of overlap between photos by moving the camera or subject in small increments, such as with small rotations on a turntable. The programs identify like points between these photographs and construct a 3-dimensional point cloud (below, left). This point cloud can then be further processed to create a 3-dimensional model that can be viewable and distributable for a variety of purposes (below, right).
Side-by-side comparison of a point-cloud, left, and a mesh, right, in Agisoft Metashape. The rectangles surrounding and overlapping the image are Agisoft’s estimation of where the camera was when a corresponding photograph was taken.
Photogrammetry is incredibly scalable and results are primarily dependent on camera equipment. This method can be used with drone photography for creating models of landscapes and buildings and macro-photography can even be used to create models of insects. Photogrammetry offers many exciting possibilities to look at things in a different light and look at things at angles or scales that would otherwise not be possible.
We’re using our models from photogrammetry in a number of ways. First, we will be making models available as resources for anyone with a use for them on JPPM’s SketchFab page. SketchFab is a website for hosting and sharing 3D models, which includes contributions from cultural institutions around the world. We particularly like SketchFab because museum accounts allow you to restrict downloads if dealing with artifacts or sites for which you have received permission to make the models viewable but not redistributable.
Below are two objects on SketchFab that we have scanned with photogrammetry. The model of the site known as Sukeek’s Cabin includes annotations, an additional benefit of using SketchFab that allows us to add educational content directly to models.
However, publishing on SketchFab does limit interactivity and we want to replicate some of the physicality of visiting sites or seeing artifacts up close. There are also practical limits to what can be included in annotations. To achieve more interactivity we’re using the service Genial.ly. SketchFab models can be embedded directly into Genial.ly “microsites” with rich media or additional interactivity. Below, we used photogrammetry to model an “alphabet plate” found at Sukeek’s Cabin. We’ve used Genial.ly to simulate another dimension of “handling” the object by encouraging viewers to reassemble 2D views of the fragments. Even though this additional interaction is 2-dimensional, it derives from photogrammetry of the plate. On an interesting note, we were able to do this by photographing the plate while it remained in its display at JPPM’s Visitor’s Center, and the interaction we’ve simulated is not actually possible in person given preservation needs.
To enable even more interactivity, we’re using Unity, a game engine for creating both 3D and 2D content. Unity is commonly used for indie games but its streamlined experience and support for computers, mobile devices, and web browsers makes it excellent for education–as does a large community of users and assets to help speed development. By shifting from SketchFab and Genial.ly, where we’re limited to either visualizing a model in 3-dimensions or simulating additional interactions with the model from 2-dimensional perspectives, Unity enables interaction with archaeological sites and artifacts from the first person perspective or with controllers that do a better job approximating the feel of an object.
In the video below, you can see a very early experience of “walking” around the Sukeek’s Cabin site here on park property. Despite the ghostly reconstruction (because parts of it are hypothetical or not known with confidence*), there is still a sense of hominess when inside and the stairs in the corner invite further exploration. In the distance, we have added a representation of the Peterson house. Newly emancipated, Sukeek and family were still living within sight of their former captor’s home. From the first person perspective, the house feels watchful–a feeling difficult to replicate in SketchFab or Genial.ly, missing from the site today, but true to the limits newly-freed families often found on their freedom.
A user explores the virtual environment around the Sukeek’s Cabin site. The photogrammetric model is visible on the ground as are interactive hotspots. A “ghost” of the home can be toggled on and off to get a sense of what it would have looked like.
We use these results in Open Education Resources (OER): free and openly-licensed resources that encourage reuse and remixing. (For more information, see this explainer from the University of Maryland or visit our Provider Set on OER Commons for examples.) For OER, photogrammetry offers a way to present lots of information with each resource. Photos and videos preserve how an artifact or archaeological site looks from a limited set of views, but digital models can preserve how a subject looks from any point of view, even those that may not be practically accessible. Where photogrammetry excels as an educational tool, though, is in approximating being able to tangibly interact with an artifact or site. While most interactions still rely on 2D screens, the opportunity to move and manipulate 3D models within those 2D interfaces helps replicate some of the sense of holding an object. As AR/VR and 3D printers improve, having a 3D model of an artifact or site will only improve in educational effectiveness.
*In addition to the current staff at JPPM, we are indebted to conversations with Kirsti Uunila and Ed Chaney for guidance on how the cabin would have looked.
Our History, Our Heritage 