Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18BC10 Site Name: Mount Clare Prehistoric Other name(s) Mount Clare Mansion, Carroll Park Historic
Brief Early & Middle Woodland shell midden, 18th century estate with brick mansion, gardens, and Unknown Description: orchards
Site Location and Environmental Data: Maryland Archeological Research Unit No. 7 SCS soil & sediment code KeB,SaB,SjB Latitude 39.2837 Longitude -76.6477 Physiographic province Western Shore Coastal Terrestrial site Underwater site Elevation m Site slope 6-10% Ethnobotany profile available Maritime site Nearest Surface Water
Site setting Topography Ownership Name (if any) Gwynns Falls -Site Setting restricted Floodplain High terrace Private Saltwater Freshwater -Lat/Long accurate to within 1 sq. mile, user may Hilltop/bluff Rockshelter/ Federal Ocean Stream/river need to make slight adjustments in mapping to cave Interior flat State of MD account for sites near state/county lines or streams Estuary/tidal river Swamp Hillslope Upland flat Regional/ Unknown county/city Tidewater/marsh Lake or pond Ridgetop Other Unknown Spring Terrace Low terrace Minimum distance to water is 610 m
Temporal & Ethnic Contextual Data: Contact period site ca. 1820 - 1860 Y Ethnic Associations (historic only)
Paleoindian site Woodland site ca. 1630 - 1675 ca. 1860 - 1900 Y Native American Asian American Archaic site MD Adena ca. 1675 - 1720 ca. 1900 - 1930 Y African American Y Unknown Early archaic Early woodland Y ca. 1720 - 1780 Y Post 1930 Anglo-American Y Other Y MIddle archaic Mid. woodland Y ca. 1780 - 1820 Y Hispanic German American Late archaic Late woodland Unknown historic context Unknown prehistoric context Unknown context Y=Confirmed, P=Possible
Site Function Contextual Data: Historic Furnace/forge Military Post-in-ground Urban/Rural? Urban Other Battlefield Frame-built Domestic Prehistoric Transportation Fortification Masonry Homestead Multi-component Misc. ceremonial Canal-related Encampment Other structure Farmstead Village Rock art Road/railroad Townsite Slave related Hamlet Shell midden Mansion Wharf/landing Religious Non-domestic agri Plantation Base camp STU/lithic scatter Maritime-related Church/mtg house Recreational Rockshelter/cave Quarry/extraction Row/townhome Bridge Ch support bldg Cellar Midden/dump Earthen mound Fish weir Ford Burial area Cairn Production area Privy Artifact scatter Educational Cemetery Burial area Unknown Industrial Spring or well Commercial Sepulchre Other context Mining-related Trading post Isolated burial Unknown Quarry-related Store Other context Mill Bldg or foundation Tavern/inn Black/metalsmith Possible Structure estate,gardens
Interpretive Sampling Data: Prehistoric context samples Soil samples taken Y Historic context samples Soil samples taken Y Flotation samples taken Y Other samples taken Pollen Flotation samples taken Y Other samples taken Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18BC10 Site Name: Mount Clare Prehistoric Other name(s) Mount Clare Mansion, Carroll Park Historic
Brief Early & Middle Woodland shell midden, 18th century estate with brick mansion, gardens, and Unknown Description: orchards
Diagnostic Artifact Data: Prehistoric Sherd Types Shepard Keyser
Projectile Point Types Koens-Crispin Marcey Creek Popes Creek Townsend Yeocomico Clovis Perkiomen Dames Qtr Coulbourn Minguannan Monongahela Hardaway-Dalton Susquehana Selden Island Watson Sullivan Cove Susquehannock Palmer Vernon Accokeek Mockley 2 Shenks Ferry Kirk (notch) Piscataway Wolfe Neck Clemson Island Moyaone Kirk (stem) Calvert Vinette Page Potomac Cr
Le Croy Selby Bay Historic Sherd Types Ironstone Staffordshire Stoneware Earthenware English Brown Morrow Mntn Jacks Rf (notch) Jackfield Tin Glazed Astbury Eng Dry-bodie Guilford Jacks Rf (pent) Mn Mottled Whiteware Borderware Brewerton Madison/Potomac Nottingham North Devon Porcelain Buckley Rhenish Otter Creek Levanna Pearlware Creamware All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts Wt Salt-glazed
Other Artifact & Feature Types: Prehistoric Features Lithic Material Fer quartzite Sil sandstone Prehistoric Artifacts Other fired clay Mound(s) Storage/trash pit Jasper Chalcedony European flint Flaked stone 2 Human remain(s) Midden Burial(s) Chert Ironstone Basalt Ground stone Modified faunal Shell midden Ossuary Rhyolite Argilite Unknown Stone bowls Unmod faunal 2 Postholes/molds Unknown Quartz Steatite Other Fire-cracked rock Oyster shell House pattern(s) Other Quartzite Sandstone granite, schist
Other lithics (all) 2 Floral material Palisade(s) Dated features present at site Ceramics (all) 2 Uncommon Obj. Hearth(s) Numerous historic features containing diagnostic Rimsherds Other Lithic reduc area artifacts, Middle Woodland shell midden
Historic Artifacts Historic Features Tobacco related Privy/outhouse Depression/mound Unknown Pottery (all) 5 Activity item(s) Const feature Well/cistern Burial(s) Other Glass (all) 8 Human remain(s) Foundation Trash pit/dump Railroad bed Architectural 2 Faunal material Cellar hole/cellar Furniture Misc. kitchen 4 Sheet midden Earthworks Hearth/chimney Arms Floral material Planting feature Mill raceway Postholes/molds Clothing Misc. 38834 Road/walkway Wheel pit Personal items Other Paling ditch/fence All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts
Radiocarbon Data: Sample 1: 990 +/- 70 years BP Reliability Sample 2: 940 +/- 60 years BP Reliability Sample 3: +/- years BP Reliability NO ID NUMBER: carbon collected Low NO ID NUMBER: carbon collected Low from shell midden beneath historic from shell midden beneath historic garden terraces, containing Mockley garden terraces, containing Mockley sherds, animal bone, debitage, & 2 sherds, animal bone, debitage, & 2 hammerstones hammerstones
Sample 4: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 5: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 6: +/- years BP Reliability
Sample 7: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 8: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 9: +/- years BP Reliability
Additional radiocarbon results available Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18BC10 Site Name: Mount Clare Prehistoric Other name(s) Mount Clare Mansion, Carroll Park Historic
Brief Early & Middle Woodland shell midden, 18th century estate with brick mansion, gardens, and Unknown Description: orchards
External Samples/Data: Collection curated at Maryland Historical Society Additional raw data may be available online
Summary Description: Mount Clare (18BC10) is primarily the archeological deposits associated with the 18th C. brick mansion, gardens, & orchards on the former estate of Charles Carroll the Barrister in southwest Baltimore City. The site also has some prehistoric deposits: an apparent Early & Middle Woodland shell midden.
The site is situated on the highest elevation within Carroll Park, which is owned by the City of Baltimore. The mansion itself is listed as a National Historic Landmark on the NRHP & is the only surviving pre-Revolutionary War residential structure within Baltimore city limits. The mansion is a 2 storey brick structure of Georgian style with a partial basement & an attic beneath a gabled roof. There are two finely decorated brick chimneys on the interior of each gable end. The main block of the house is original, but the extant wings & hyphens are reconstructed. These additions do not follow the original plan of the mansion, but the main house has been faithfully restored to its original appearance. It has been owned by the City of Baltimore since 1890, & is now operated as a tourist attraction under a management agreement with the National Society of Colonial Dames (Maryland) & the nearby B&O Railroad Museum.
The area that is now Carroll Park is considerably altered from its native & even from its colonial-era landscape. Planned as a botanical garden in the early 20th C., Carroll Park contains a variety of trees not common to the region. Birds are now the most common form of wildlife in the park, including one or more hawks which nest along the park’s north buffer of trees. Soils at the site are primarily Sassafras & Joppa gravelly loams.
Charles Carroll the Barrister was the son of Dr. Charles Carroll & a distant cousin of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the famous signer of the Declaration of Independence. Though born in Annapolis, as a son of one of the wealthiest & most prominent families in Maryland (and the American Colonies for that matter), Charles was educated in Europe. Not long after he returned to Maryland in 1746 or 1747, his father (Dr. Charles Carroll) had constructed a small 1½ storey clapboard house on a hilltop at the approximate location of the site for the use of his family. Although not mentioned in the historic records, there would most likely have been a separate kitchen & other buildings in the immediate vicinity. Charles was by that time living in Annapolis & managing some of the families farming & milling businesses at Carrollton.
In 1751, Charles Carroll made the decision to pursue a profession in law & left Maryland, yet again, for England. He studied at the Middle Temple in London & was accepted to the bar at the Inns of Court in 1755. Shortly thereafter, he returned to Maryland & took up the suffix to his surname “the Barrister” to distinguish himself from the other Charles Carrolls throughout the colony. Shortly after his return to Maryland, Dr. Charles Carroll died, leaving his estate to his surviving son Charles the Barrister. In 1756, Charles appears to have begun making plans to construct a new manor house on the plantation along the Patapsco that he had inherited from his father, which he called “Georgia”. Orders through a London agent included window glass, sheet lead, hinges, locks & nails, while other building materials were locally purchased or made. This was to become his summer home, while his “townhouse” would be in Annapolis. At that time, Baltimore was far more rural when compared to the Annapolis of the mid 18th C.
By 1760 Charles had completed construction of the new manor house (possibly on the same spot as his father’s earlier home) at Georgia, which he named “Mount Clare” after his grandmother. The plan included the main house (or central block) & at least a 22 X 24 foot kitchen to the east side, & an orangery/pinery. Architectural evidence suggests that part of the central block may have been constructed atop the foundation & cellar constructed by his father. The basement for the central block lies only under the parlor & dining room: the mansion’s two south-side rooms. Therefore, Dr. Carroll’s earlier house was probably of the common hall-and-parlor floor plan, with one large room & a smaller, more private room.
Around 1767, Carroll directed major renovations & additions to the existing structures, as well as the construction of new buildings at Mt. Clare. The kitchen was likely reconfigured at this time to include a hallway & scullery. It was probably during these renovations that semi-octagonal north ends were added to the kitchen & an office (which may have been built earlier or at that time) wing. The result was a mansion complex, with the main house at the center of two flanking wings to form a Palladian villa-style entrance. The façade of buildings with connecting hyphens & walls stretched approximately 360 feet across the hilltop.
Margaret Carroll (the wife of Charles the Barrister) directed the next series of alterations, probably soon after Charles’ death in 1783. Before 1798, additions were added to the far sides of the kitchen wing & the office wing, because in 1798 a Federal tax list documented taxable property at Mt. Clare, including all improvements within two acres of the mansion & these two additions are included in the list. The kitchen & an office wings & additions served as balancing dependencies to the central block. These were connected to the mansion by hyphens or corridors & are depicted in a miniature 1805 painting of Mt. Clare. The date of its construction is uncertain.
James McCubbin Carroll moved to Mt. Clare after Margaret Carroll’s death in 1817. His account books reveal that additional changes were made to the structures on the property. After the Civil War, James Carroll Jr. (who had inherited Mt. Clare), leased the mansion & 15 acres to the West Baltimore Schuetzen Association. The Schuetzen were a form of German-American social club, similar to a country club, but typically with an emphasis on the shooting sports rather than on golfing. These tenants were required to make $19,000 worth of improvements to the property within the first three years. Considering this & evidence from a Civil War era lithograph of the mansion showing the wings in a state of disrepair, it is believed that the Schuetzen Association demolished all of the support buildings flanking the mansion by 1871 as an initial improvement project. The group also appears to have built a new two-storey addition onto the west side of the mansion, where the office wing & west hyphen had been, by 1873. A map of the “Schuetzen Park” established by the club, dated 1876, includes this new wing & a series of winding roads that were also probably Schuetzen improvements as well.
In 1890, the City of Baltimore purchased the house & 20 acres with the intention of creating a major city park. Annual reports of the Park Board Commission detail some of the related improvements. The park property eventually grew to 162 acres, but has since been reduced to around 112 acres. There were several early park improvements: Schuetzen-period buildings & the “tumbled-down” Carrolls’ stable were demolished, & landscaping projects included raising the level of the lawn where the Mt. Clare kitchen once stood. Several late 19th & early 20th C. projects left their marks on the kitchen site as well. Among them were planting programs, one of which was sponsored by the Baltimore Cactus Society in 1895. In later years boxwoods were planted on the site.
In 1908, the City added east & west wings with basements to the mansion. The city also hired the Olmstead Brothers landscape architectural firm around this time to develop a plan for additional park improvements. Taking advantage of contours in the park as well as existing Schuetzen-period roads, the Olmstead firm created a system of roads & walking trails that were quite characteristic of projects it carried out for other historic city parks. Many of these latest alterations are still a part of the Carroll Park landscape. Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18BC10 Site Name: Mount Clare Prehistoric Other name(s) Mount Clare Mansion, Carroll Park Historic
Brief Early & Middle Woodland shell midden, 18th century estate with brick mansion, gardens, and Unknown Description: orchards
The earliest documented archeological excavations at 18BC10 occurred in 1970 & 1971 & were related to the investigation of a probable historic sump in the basement area. In the 1960s, workmen re-pointing the stone walls in the basement of Mt. Clare discovered the entrance to a brick-lined tunnel about 91 cm (3 ft) high & 61 cm (2 ft) wide. The tunnel led east from the southeast corner of the basement, but was blocked by fill about 4.6 m (15 ft) from its entrance. Examinations made of this tunnel (no excavation is documented to have taken place) at the time suggest that it had an unpaved floor & that late 19th C. debris was scattered along the length of the tunnel & in the fill blocking the end of the tunnel. The artifacts included fragments of hand-blown olive green wine bottles, mold-made clear glass beer mugs, clear window glass, earthenware beer jugs, a semi-porcelain bowl, a few iron objects, & sawed domestic cow bones. Some of the debris coincides with the use of Mt. Clare as a beer garden by the Schuetzen Association in the late 19th C.
The exploration of the tunnel also revealed the presence of a depressed are in the basement’s brick floor, near the entrance to the tunnel. The first archeological excavations in 1970 & 1971 were focused on determining the nature of this depression. It was initially speculated that the depression might be caused by a filled in well, cistern, or cooler beneath the brick flooring.
In 1970, volunteers with the Archeological Society of Maryland (ASM) removed bricks from an area roughly 1 m (3.5 ft) in diameter in the center of the depression & excavated sand, gravel, & cobbles to a depth of around 91 cm (3 ft). The upper part of the fill consisted of loose gravel & the bottom of the test penetrated large cobbles separated by voids. The open spaces in the floor of the exploratory test & the frequent collapse of the loose gravel forming the upper walls of the tested area discouraged further work. Four fragments of late Chinese export porcelain (early 19th C. in age) were recovered.
In August of 1971, personnel from the Maryland Geological Survey expanded the tested area at the entrance to the tunnel. They cleaned a work area around the earlier excavation, established reference lines, & made a measured plan of the previous excavation & nearby features. Bricks between the earlier excavation & the south foundation wall were removed & the excavation proceeded with shovel through loose sand & gravel fill, a compact clay & gravel deposit, & into undisturbed clay subsoil. Large cobbles & loose gravel extending to an undetermined depth were encountered only at the end of the excavation near the test dug by ASM. Additional bricks were then removed on the north & east sides & the excavation expanded in order to establish the size of the cobble deposit. Slumping of loose fill & time limitations prevented excavation of vertical & straight profiles.
The excavations clearly demonstrated that the depressed area in the basement floor related to a pit used as a sump rather than a well or cistern because there was no trace of a lining. The pit contained no debris & the large quartz boulders used in the fill formed open voids, again, suggesting that it served as a sump drain. The relationship between the sump & the tunnel was not readily apparent. In addition to small brick fragments, three artifacts were recovered during the 1971 excavations: a redware rimsherd, a piece of olive green wine bottle glass, & one piece of greenish window glass. These objects are not easily dated, but an easily dated 18th & 19th C. date is probable.
Also in 1971, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania visited Mt. Clare to conduct remote sensing in the yard around the mansion. Soil resistivity tests were utilized to try to locate the direction that the aforementioned tunnel ran after leaving the house. This testing failed to locate a continuation of the tunnel across the macadam –block driveway and no significant anomalies were indicated in the eastern part of the first terrace, which was also tested. However, a rectangular-shaped feature was detected on the hill of the terrace to the southeast of the corner of the kitchen wing. The resulting maps for this testing were lost, however, and the precise placement of the feature is unknown.
Excavations at 18BC10 occurred again in 1977 as part of a project managed by faculty at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. No final report was ever produced as a result of this fieldwork, but several years later a review of the extant field records, collections, & other materials was made which provides some details. During 1977, an unspecified number of trenches were excavated on the first terrace west of the ca. 1908 West Wing & just south of a small service road. The intended goal of excavation was to locate structural remains of the orangery that dated back to the occupation by Charles & Margaret Carroll.
In the summer of 1978 the crew excavated trenches approximately 5 to 10 m north of the initial trenching & located the orangery’s south wall foundation. In addition, that season’s work resulted in documentation of east orangery wall remains, interior foundations, the northwest corner of a small structure immediately to the east of the orangery, & stone foundations connecting the two structures. That same season, excavations north of the ca. 1908 East Wing revealed portions of the east & interior foundations for the kitchen wing.
In general, records associated with these excavations lack necessary detail & are in relatively poor physical condition. It appears that researchers were focused primarily on uncovering & following foundations. Foundation remains were occasionally well recorded & mapped, but scaled maps are almost exclusively plan views. No stratigraphic profiles from the excavation have ever been located. It appears that the identified structural remains themselves were not excavated in 1977 & 1978, but were more thoroughly documented during later excavations.
During the summers of 1979 & 1980, vast excavations were carried out in the office wing area (i.e. the west wing). In 1978, two trenches had been excavated immediately north of the office wing’s west wall. These trenches, located in “the office wing area, west fence area”, were later tied into the two-meter grid system used by the 1979 & 1980 excavators. During the 1979-80 project, most structural remains were exposed & mapped. A portion of the site covered by an asphalt roadway was not excavated, however, part of a macadam block walkway was removed to uncover remains of the structure’s west wall & central chimney base. By the end of the 1980 season it was estimated that 95 percent of the structure had been uncovered.
According to a preliminary report (a final product was never produced), fieldwork in 1979 began with the establishment of a 10 m square grid across the site, aligned to north façade of the mansion. These were further subdivided into 2 m squares & excavations were opened up in a grassy area just to the north of the 1908 office (i.e. west) wing. Over the course of the summer, 14 two m squares were excavated to a depth of roughly 40 cm. These units were then backfilled for the winter. In the summer of 1980, those 14 test squares were re-excavated to the level of the plastic protection laid down the previous summer. An additional 17 two m squares were excavated in 1980, bringing to a total of 31 units opened & explored in 1980.
Each 2 m square excavated was divided into four 1 m quadrants. The grass & black topsoil layer was removed by shovel & artifacts in each quadrant were bagged separately. The next layer, a dark brown mottled loam (Strata A), was also excavated in quadrants to a depth of approximately 25 cm, where the layer terminated. Generally at the base of Strata A, one encountered 18th or 19th C. features. At this point the entire square would be cleaned as a unit, then features would be identified & excavated. When adjacent squares were to be excavated, a 20-40 cm balk was left in-between the squares to assist in documenting stratigraphy. The balk was part of the square, not a separate entity & its contents were cataloged accordingly. When it became necessary to better expose a strata or a feature, the balk would be removed & the artifacts cleaned & retained. Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18BC10 Site Name: Mount Clare Prehistoric Other name(s) Mount Clare Mansion, Carroll Park Historic
Brief Early & Middle Woodland shell midden, 18th century estate with brick mansion, gardens, and Unknown Description: orchards
The 1979 & 1980 excavations revealed the remains of the 1768 office wing, but there was insufficient time & manpower to adequately test a carriage drive area & 18th C. fence line that were partially exposed. Other features encountered were three square 19th C. postholes, 20th C. landscaping features & planting holes, a macadam walkway, 20th C. utility lines.
The remains of the 1768 office wing were sparse, but sufficient to develop a rough plan view of the outer walls of the wing. The most interesting aspect of the wing was the polygonal (three-sided) shape of its north wall. A ca. 1768 interior H-shaped double fireplace for the wing was also uncovered, indicating that at least two rooms were present in the wing. When the Schuetzen Association received permission to tear down the purportedly dilapidated mansion wings, they removed most of the foundation stones. A few stones were left intact, but more often, the shape of the wing had to be reconstructed from the staining left by the “robbers” trench. After the wing was torn down, a layer of gravel was placed over the area of the building only, for the purpose of providing better drainage. Most of the artifact in the gravel layer & above it, dated to the period of the Schuetzen Association’s occupation & use of the site for a beer garden/club house in the late 19th C. (such as the bottom of a green glass beer stein). However, some 1800-1825 era kaolin pipe bowls were recovered in these layers as well, suggesting fill was mixed in from elsewhere, perhaps elsewhere on-site.
Two of the largest artifacts recovered from the site were two huge iron pots (91 cm in diameter & 40 cm deep). The first was encountered sitting on top of the trench for the east-angle wall of the polygonal north wall of the wing. This pot collapsed on itself as it was excavated. A second 19th C. pot was encountered near the center of the wing. This pot was removed from the site intact. It was speculated that these may have served as flower pots.
Little else is known about the 1979 & 1980 excavations at 18BC10. No analysis or even cataloging of artifacts was completed at that time, but later researchers examined these collections & developed small “study collections”.
In September of 1983, a local historical architect, monitored the excavation of trenches needed to connect new heat pump units to the house. In the trench that ran from the unit on the east side of the house into the cellar/basement, workmen uncovered a portion of the tunnel explored in the 1960s & 1970s. This was in the vicinity of the first terrace & notes made at the time reveal the tunnel to be a brick & mortar arch supported by stone. Because this section of the tunnel was part of the 4.57 m (15 ft) section that had been previously explored, there was still no evidence that the structure extended beyond the blockage of fill encountered 13 years earlier.
In 1984, two projects were carried out at 18BC10 by the Baltimore Center for Urban Archaeology (BCUA). One project focused on test excavations in the previously identified orangery area, while the other project was a shovel test pit (STP) survey of the hillslopes surrounding the mansion & other areas of potential interest throughout Carroll Park.
The 1984 Orangery Project was primarily geared towards identifying whether sufficient evidence existed to justify full excavation. The first priority was to find evidence of the internal arrangement of the Orangery, with a particular focus on understanding the design of any subfloor heating system. A total of twenty 1.524 X 1.524 m (5 X 5 ft) units were laid out in a pattern that roughly transected the structure in a north-south direction, with additional units extending to the east & west to further delimit the building footprint.
While limited in scope, the 1984 Orangery Project permitted excavators to identify significant elements of the building, including construction details of a hypocaust (subterranean heating system), & 9 unique strata representing various cultural & natural events. In more general terms, the original ground surface was a slight hill into which a flat surface was cut onto which the foundations & hypocaust air ducts could be constructed. The original orangery appears to have later been extended to the south. Other construction stages may have occurred, but evidence was obscured due to extensive robbing for materials. Eventually, the remaining (mostly robbed) foundation trenches were filled with several layers of fill & abandoned. Several planting holes subsequently disturbed the orangery foundations, & asphalt paving destroyed any archeological deposits at the base of the hill. Other disturbances included an electric cable trench & excavation trenches from the work at the orangery in the 1970s.
There appear to have been two first-floor rooms in the orangery that were heated by a system of sub-floor ducts. In addition, the south room had a south-side extension added to it. The south-room ducts led from a firebox (southeast) to a chimney flue (centered in the north end of the room). Inside the firebox were several individual bricks spaced in uniform fashion on top of the brick surface, which were possibly supports for the firebox roof. Even though the nature of the roof’s construction was not determined, hypotheses included a vaulted roof, or a flat brick tile roof/floor supported by brick piers inside the firebox. Ducts were also discovered in the north room leading south to the same central chimney flue, but no north-room firebox was identified.
The 1984 STP Survey carried out by the BCUA entailed the excavation of 974 shovel test pits throughout Carroll Park in an attempt to locate archeologically sensitive areas of the park & make recommendations for future archeological research. Most of the STPs were situated on the hillslopes around Mt. Clare, but some extended further out into Carroll Park (i.e. beyond the current site boundaries). These materials are included in the discussion of 18BC10 as there is a strong likelihood that materials derived from these distant STPs originally derived from activities at Mt. Clare.
Carroll Park was divided into 12 survey areas, which were named alphabetically (A through L) in order of excavation. Transects were established independently for each of the survey areas. The first transect in each area was given a specific compass bearing & all other transects in the area were laid out parallel to the first. Transects within each area were placed 4.57 m (15 ft) apart & STPs were excavated every 4.57 m along each transect. STPs were excavated to an average depth of 30.5 cm (12 in), regardless of whether sterile soil had been identified or not. Excavated soil was sifted through hardware cloth & recovered artifacts were bagged according to provenience. Pertinent STP data was recorded on standardized forms by members of the field crew (primarily middle & secondary school students). The project supervisor oversaw daily excavations, data recordation, & maintained their own separate notebook.
Despite intensive coverage of an area that measured approximately 30 to 35 acres, survey results did not provide a clear picture of Carroll Park’s archeological resources. Identifying evidence for early activity with confidence is difficult, because STPs were frequently not excavated to sterile subsoil. As a result, the excavations more thoroughly documented the property’s late 19th & early 20th C. history. Survey records provide relatively little information about the landscape during the Carroll family ownership. The artifact assemblage recovered supports this conclusion. Mid to late 19th C. ceramics (later whitewares) dominated the ceramic assemblage & more than half of the entire artifact assemblage is glass (much of it relatively modern clear & amber container glass).
Excavations did identify one area of possible brick foundation remains (northeast of the mansion near the B&O railroad tracks), two suspected historic shell midden deposits (west of the mansion towards Monroe Street), & the probable location of the 18th C. Mt. Clare orchard (a large area between the mansion & Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18BC10 Site Name: Mount Clare Prehistoric Other name(s) Mount Clare Mansion, Carroll Park Historic
Brief Early & Middle Woodland shell midden, 18th century estate with brick mansion, gardens, and Unknown Description: orchards an early 20th C. stable containing a higher than normal concentration of gravel). The formal terraced garden, the forecourt, & areas immediately east & west of the two extant wings were not tested. Researchers recommended additional testing of the possible brick foundation northeast of the mansion.
A third project was conducted in 1984, but details of this effort are very sparse. The area immediately south of the mansion consists of 5 garden terraces & four falls, or slopes thought to have been created in the 18th C. However, features across the landscape including fragments of brick steps, asphalt walkways, & trees planted along the forward edges of terraces suggested that they had been altered significantly since the 18th C. Preliminary test excavations were carried out on the terraces directly south of the mansion in 1984 to begin the attempt to reconstruct the original 18th C. landscape south of the mansion. Two units (likely 1.524 X 1.524 m in size) were excavated to record terrace strata, to obtain pollen, flotation, & soil samples, & to see if the results of such analysis could provide information useful in reconstructing the 18th C. landscape & its vegetation. Eighteenth & early 19th C. artifacts were recovered from the lowest artifact-bearing levels, suggesting that at least portions of the second terrace had been left undisturbed. However, results from pollen & floral analysis were considered relatively unsuccessful.
In 1985 & continuing into 1986, BCUA began collaborating with the Colonial Dames or Maryland, management of Carroll Park, & other entities on a project to restore the orchard & vineyard at Mt. Clare. The reconstruction of the orchards was based on contributions from various disciplines, including history, horticulture, landscape architecture, & historical archeology. After completion, the reconstructed orchard would contain historic varieties of 200 apple, pear, peach, quince, plum, & cherry trees covering 4.7 acres. The primary goal of the BCUA excavations in 1985/1986, was to identify a planting pattern for trees in the orchard. Researchers also hoped to discover evidence of fencelines & the tree species planted in the historic orchard.
The BCUA used two principal sources of evidence to identify the general area for the orchard investigations. The first was a 1775 landscape painting by Charles Wilson Peale. The 18th C. painting shows rows of poles or supports, a hedge or fence immediately west of the poles running parallel to the N-S axis of the mansion, & long rows of trees west of the hedge. In the painting, these three features are in a discreet area south of the mansion & west of the terraces. The other major source of information was stratigraphic evidence recovered during the 1984 STP Survey. As previously mentioned, excavators discovered that a large area between the mansion & an early 20th C. stable contained a higher than normal concentration of gravel. This discovery, combined with the depiction in the 1775 painting, led researchers to focus on the slope & terraces west of the mansion known as “Area G”.
Initial excavation units for the 1985 Orchard Investigation were placed arbitrarily across Area G. The plan was to identify at least one feature dating to the 18th C. orchard & then to place additional units around the feature(s) at distances recommended in 18th C. gardening books. Researchers expected that by following this technique they would be able to determine the pattern of the orchard & its boundaries. However, after the placement of 156 units (1.524 X 1.524 m in size) failed to reveal a definite planting pattern, field researchers altered plans & hired a gradall operator to strip larger areas in search of archeological features. Unfortunately, however, after a number of larger areas of the site had been mechanically excavated to subsoil, the results were essentially the same. No 18th C. planting pattern for the orchard could be found. Archeologists began to posit that park landscaping projects early in the 20th C. had destroyed archeological evidence of the orchard. As a last resort, an area beneath the shade of an American Elm, estimated to be 160-170 years old, was stripped of topsoil. A pattern of four orchard-period tree stains was discovered.
Two deep trenches were mechanically excavated, one on the south side of the site & one on the north side, so archeologists could record stratigraphic information that they hoped would aid in the reconstruction of the original slope on which the orchard was planted. The strata across the site, consisting of relatively thin topsoil on top of hard packed layers of clay & gravel, generally confirmed suspicions that 1890s-era landscaping projects had severely disturbed large portions of the hillside.
Archeologists had more success just west of the terraces, where post & planting hole stains surrounded by evidence of possible planting bed, formed a much smaller planting pattern than the one established for the orchard. Based on the rows of poles or supports shown in the 1775 Peale painting, archeologists tentatively identified this area as the site of the vineyard. After excavation with a gradall, however, preliminary analysis of the more than 100 features exposed failed to produce any planting pattern. However, soil samples were collected systematically across the area & during analysis of these, it was noted that almost all of the features identified as planting/post holes were neutral or nearly neutral in pH. When the features in question were separated out from the rest of the feature complex, it was determined that the remainder fell into a pattern of 1.83 X 2.74 m (6 X 9 ft) grid cells (i.e. the posts were positioned at the corners of 6 X 9 ft areas). The visibly dog-eared pages of Charles Carroll’s original 1754 copy of Phillip Miller’s The Garden Dictionary, dealing with the planting & care of vineyards supported both the alignment & spacing of this grid pattern. The dictionary recommends a vineyard planting alignment southeast to northwest (the planting pattern was determined to be 27.5° west of north) in rows 6 by 10 ft. Thus, archeological evidence, soil analysis, & evidence from both a 1775 landscape painting & one of Charles Carroll’s well used reference books strongly suggest that a vineyard had been planted & maintained west of the terraces. In the same gradall-stripped area, archeologists also discovered a line of post hole stains that were interpreted as evidence for a fenceline which served as a border between the vineyard & the orchard area.
The pattern established for the orchard plantings was an almost square grid with intervals of 8.53 by 9.14 m (28 by 30 ft), considerably smaller that the spacings recommended by Miller or in Thomas Hale’s 1759 publication, A Complete Body of Husbandry. It did not seem likely that Charles Carroll would so blatantly disregard the recommendations of recognized 18th C. horticultural authorities while following the latest fashions elsewhere on the plantation. It has been suggested that Charles may have inherited an extant orchard layout from his father or that he used an altered layout suggested by Hale for use when, “a hedge is to be used to shelter an orchard or planting of timber…” In such a situation, Hale recommends planting both the hedge & orchard trees in a 30 foot square grid pattern.
Beginning in August of 1985, BCUA undertook excavations on the first terrace south of the mansion as part of the overall scheme for the restoration of the house & grounds to their 18th C. configuration. Previous archeological excavations had not concentrated in this area, so little was known about the resources on the terrace. The two major goals of excavation in the area were to locate the configuration & extent of a bowling green reported to have been located on the first terrace, & to investigate the orientation & potential uses of the tunnel which extended from the east side of the main house. Since no paintings or historic photographs have been located that would illustrate the arrangement of the first terrace, research was undertaken to gather information from other plantations & printed sources that might aide in assessing the probable arrangement of the bowling green & associated walks & hedges. An additional goal for the project was identifying the sequence of construction of the first terrace.
A baseline was established on the western side of the first terrace & a grid of 1.524 m (5 ft) squares was extended across the terrace extending eastward. Grid squares were selected for excavation based on stratified-purposive selection. The site was divided into three regions (A, B, & C) based on the assumed descending probability of stratigraphic integrity for each region & stratified sampling was used within each region to select units for excavation. In some cases, trenching was used (of varying shapes/sizes) rather than excavation in 1.524 X 1.524 m units due to surface obstructions & other field conditions. Test units Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18BC10 Site Name: Mount Clare Prehistoric Other name(s) Mount Clare Mansion, Carroll Park Historic
Brief Early & Middle Woodland shell midden, 18th century estate with brick mansion, gardens, and Unknown Description: orchards were hand excavated, while trenches were excavated using a combination of mechanical excavation & hand digging.
Region A was located in a narrow strip of grass & planting bed remains between the mansion & a driveway. A total of 5 units & 3 trenches were excavated in Region A. Region A was thought the most likely to contain intact subsurface deposits. Region B consisted of all that area on the first terrace not included in Region A & not covered by driveway. Forty test units & 5 trenches were excavated in Region B. Two test units & 2 trenches were excavated in Region C. Region C consisted of all of the terrace that was covered by the macadam-block driveways. These driveways were stripped of their paving & concrete curbs by city crews using a rubber-tired backhoe/front-end loader & an underlying layer of sand was removed. Upon cleaning it appeared that the area was severely disturbed, so bucket augers were used to test stratigraphy. Only two units were ultimately excavated, & the trenches were abandoned when augering revealed extensive disturbance.
In deposits which were suspected to be 18th or early 19th C. in nature, artifacts were recovered by screening the soil through hardware cloth. Later deposits were selectively screened in order to provide a sample of artifacts from every level. Records were kept on daily unit-level forms, which aided in the standardization of the data collected from each unit. Information recorded on this form included stratum elevations, observations on soil composition, description of the types of artifacts recovered, plan & profile drawings of units, relationship of the strata to other strata, etc. In addition to the official standardized forms, each archeologist kept a notebook & made daily entries of notes. A photographic record of the excavation was kept on 35 mm color film. Black & white photos were only occasionally taken due to a lack of equipment.
Within Region A, 8 distinct soil levels were found to be relatively consistent throughout the area. A fuel oil tank of unknown capacity was encountered in one unit. It was estimated to be approximately 1.524 m in diameter. Portions of the foundation wall for the main house were uncovered in three units. The bricks extended for three courses below the modern ground surface & ended at a rough-cut stone & mortar foundation. No builder’s trench was detected & several voids were found between the lower levels of the stone wall & clay against it. Two units excavated along the east side of the existing porch & steps revealed mortar that appeared to have been mixed with Portland cement. This indicated that the steps were not of 18th C. construction as expected.
Various episodes of terrace construction were revealed in the stratigraphy of Region B, along with lenses of charcoal & artifact deposits that suggest living surfaces. The original ground surface in the terrace area was also identified. Several features were encountered, including 2 shell lenses of undetermined function, a rather large rectangular pit of probable modern origin (it extended to the modern soil line), 20th C. garden features, & additional portions of the cellar/basement tunnel.
In all, some 30.5 m (100 ft) of the course of the tunnel was determined. It originated from the east wall of the house, ran 92° east of true north for approximately 2.1 m (7 ft), turned to a course of 113° east of true north & ran to the edge of the first terrace. The tunnel was constructed of stone & brick in a builder’s trench 1.83-2.44 m (6-8 ft) in width. The walls of the tunnel were constructed of field stone (most of which was crudely laid) with intermittent patches of mortar & the arch was brick & mortar. The floor of the tunnel was a thin layer of silt overtop hard-packed clay. One unit exposed a break in the tunnel which was obviously not a finished end. This opening occurred at the point where the terrace dropped to a half-terrace on the eastern side of the yard. Apparently the tunnel originally ran through this area, but was destroyed when the half-terrace was constructed. The tunnel was subsequently used for refuse disposal. Two test units on the half-terrace did expose the remains of a stone wall which were probably part of the tunnel. The stone wall remains ended at the south edge of the half-terrace. Based on construction similarities with a tunnel structure at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the tunnel at Mt. Clare was interpreted to be a ventilation shaft. No date was assigned to the construction of the tunnel, however.
Region C was found to be heavily disturbed. Nineteenth & 20th C. utility trenches for water & storm drain pipes as well as driveway construction created enough disturbance to make additional investigations useless. Early twentieth C. drain pipes & another break in the basement tunnel (the collapsed fill encountered in the 1970s) were the only other features encountered.
Analysis of archeological & documentary evidence in Regions A & B suggests that a smaller terrace which held a bowling green was once present on the first terrace at Mt. Clare. This smaller terrace was probably destroyed by landscaping performed by the Baltimore Department of Recreation & Parks in the early 1890s.
A total of 20,800 artifacts were recovered during the 1985 excavations of the First Terrace at Mt. Clare Mansion. No additional fieldwork has been recommended on the first terrace, but archeological monitoring of any future construction on the terrace should be carried out to protect any potentially undetected archeological features.
BCUA also undertook investigations of the Forecourt in front of the mansion beginning in September of 1985, again, in preparation for plans to return to the landscape to something like its 18th C. appearance. Of great concern was the belief that a wall may have once enclosed the forecourt area. This would be the most visible, if not the most important, feature of any restoration planned for the forecourt area. However, previous excavations had not provided conclusive information regarding the configuration of this enclosure. Confirmation of the configuration of the forecourt wall(s) was the primary goal of excavation in this area. Another concern was the location of the columns or gate posts which defined the entrance to the forecourt/courtyard, as was the location of any original pathways in the area.
Excavations were carried out primarily in 1.524 m units. The placement of units was entirely non-random & was oriented towards achieving the aforementioned goals. Three strategies were employed in the placement of units: 1) following the course of an unidentified stone wall remnant noted during the 1980 excavations at 18BC10, 2) trenching east-west across the forecourt area, & 3) removal of the existing walks at the mansion & excavation in their footprints.
The wall foundation remnant encountered in 1980 was found immediately based on old site maps & followed for approximately 8.5 m (28 ft) before it “disappeared” & had to be sought by the placement of test units in its projected course. Twenty-eight test units were placed in this manner. When evidence of the wall could not be detected by this means, a gradall was used to remove the 30.5-51 cm (12-20 inches) of late 19th & 20th C. overburden in the area where the wall was suspected to have been. Following the opening of these areas, an additional 20 test units were excavated within the graded sections of the yard. These measures allowed for the successful definition of the wall configuration.
The east-west trenching was hoped to yield information on the existence of other walls in the forecourt & the elevation of earlier ground surfaces. A 13.7 m (45 ft) long, 76.2 cm (2.5 ft) wide trench was extended across the west side of the forecourt only, as time constraints & unwillingness to disturb remains of the kitchen wing excluded its extension into the east side of the yard. Within this trench were 9 test units. Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18BC10 Site Name: Mount Clare Prehistoric Other name(s) Mount Clare Mansion, Carroll Park Historic
Brief Early & Middle Woodland shell midden, 18th century estate with brick mansion, gardens, and Unknown Description: orchards
The goal of locating 18th C. walkways in the forecourt was pursued by removing the asphalt blocks & marble steps from the extant walkways & searching below them for evidence of earlier paths. Removal of the blocks & steps was carried out by a Baltimore City work crew with the aid of a rubber-tired backhoe.
Upon the request of the Colonial Dames’ A.H.A. committee, two trenches were excavated flanking the portico at the forecourt entrance into the main house. The purpose of these trenches was to investigate the authenticity of the existing portico. These trenches also provided good stratigraphic data which could be used for cross-site comparison.
The following spring, five trenches were excavated with a backhoe in order to procure stratigraphic information in an attempt to clarify some questions remaining about the forecourt contours. At the same time, a previously unexcavated portion of the forecourt wall was investigated & work resumed in an unfinished unit from the previous year.
Test units were hand-excavated in natural stratigraphic levels to avoid mixing of cultural deposits. Artifacts from each level were recovered by screening soil through hardware cloth, bagged according to provenience, & deposited in the lab. Vertical control during excavation was maintained & recorded using a transit & level rod & measuring from two site datums.
Archeologists were successful in identifying the layout of the wall which enclosed the forecourt during the late 18th & early 19th centuries as a Venetian arch which was similar in design to the outline of the window in the portico which overlooks the courtyard. Bricks were found in situ in one portion of the wall, allowing identification of the bonding pattern used in the construction of the wall as well as the size & color of the original bricks.
Stratigraphic information from backhoe trenches excavated during the spring of 1986 revealed that the forecourt was originally a level expanse of ground which dropped relatively abruptly on the northern side, near the enclosing wall, corresponding with a drop in the central walk in which the remains of stone steps were found. Analysis of midden deposits found over the remains of the forecourt wall indicated that this structure was probably removed during the third quarter of the 19th C.
As with the first terrace, no further archeological testing was recommended for the forecourt. However, archeological monitoring should be implemented during any future work to insure against the destruction of historic features which may have escaped detection.
During both the forecourt & first terrace excavations of 1985/1986, flotation sampling was utilized to obtain botanical specimens from the archeological deposits. The results of the flotation sampling are discussed in the linked ethnobotanical profiles document.
In 1986 the Baltimore Center for Urban Archaeology undertook a two week project at the site, again, in the vicinity of the office wing. The work was carried out in preparation for reconstruction of the 18th C. forecourt area. Excavations focused on areas south & west of the 1979-1980 work. Portions of an asphalt road had to be removed prior to excavation. Units in the office wing area were excavated & artifact samples were saved from late 19th & 20th C. layers. Soil from earlier underlying layers & all features was screened, & photographs were taken of all completed units, features, & significant finds within levels. In addition, at least one detailed profile was drawn for each excavated unit. Ten units measuring 1.524 X 1.524 m or less in size were opened during the 1986 office wing project, but several were not completed.
For the most part, results were discouraging. No evidence for the connecting hyphen or the south wall of the office was detected. No undisturbed Carroll- period deposits or structural remains of any kind were identified during the 1986 project. It was determined that the Schuetzen Association’s two storey west addition to the mansion had included a full basement, & that excavation for the basement & construction of the new wing had obliterated all remains of the hyphen & the office’s south end. West of the office wing, road construction & utility pipe installation were the two principal activities that probably destroyed remains of the office’s west addition. Two units were placed west of the office in hopes of finding the addition’s west, or outer wall. No such wall foundation was detected, however, many features thought to be evidence for posthole/postmolds were discovered at subsoil. None of these features were excavated, but they were drawn & photographed before the pits were backfilled, & since the area lies approximately 1.524 to 3.05 m (5 to 10 ft) west of the forecourt, it was anticipated that the area would not be disturbed during forecourt reconstruction.
Also as part of the forecourt reconstruction project, the former kitchen locale was excavated in 1986 by BCUA. This was known to be a brick structure with a stone foundation, connected to the east gable-end of the mansion by an enclosed hyphen.
A baseline was established along a grid north orientation aligned with the north-south axis of the mansion. A 1.524 X 1.524 m grid was then laid out across the area formerly occupied by the kitchen. The 1986 excavations were carried out in 2 stages, with slightly different grids & record-keeping methods used for each. Artifacts were recovered by screening soil from deposits which were suspected to date to the 18th or early 19th centuries through hardware mesh. Later deposits were “grab sampled” in order to recover sample artifacts from corresponding occupation periods. All artifacts were bagged together according to unit/level/feature provenience, & were stored in the field laboratory in the basement of the mansion’s west wing until they could be processed by BCUA.
Written & photographic documentation was recorded for each excavated unit during the project. Standardized forms were used for “official” record-keeping & notebooks were kept by individual excavators as well. Systematically recorded information included stratum elevations, observations on soil composition, preliminary descriptions of recovered artifacts, & measured plan drawings of identified features. In general, plan view maps of the site provide a thorough & accurate record, but section maps were produced inconsistently, especially for the second stage of excavations. This was largely due to a failure to leave balks between units (with two exceptions). A west-east long section for the site was completed at the conclusion of the first stage of excavation, but no north- south long section was done. The photographic record was maintained on 200 ASA color transparency film & on 125 ASA black & white film (all 35 mm). Photographs were taken on a somewhat selective basis for each unit on both black & white & color film.
Provision was also made for the procurement of floral & faunal materials through collection of soil samples from features & representative strata across the site. These soil samples consisted of 6 liters (when possible) of dry soil from which the organic materials were collected through a process of flotation. Smaller soil samples were collected under more highly controlled conditions for analysis of pollen content, because identification of surviving pollen from the site may help determine the kinds of plants being processed in the kitchen during the 18th & early 19th centuries. Ten of these samples were ultimately selected for botanical analysis. Their analysis is discussed in the linked ethnobotanical profiles document.
Three general periods of site occupation were identified during excavation: layers & features associated with the kitchen’s occupation, soil layers related to the Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18BC10 Site Name: Mount Clare Prehistoric Other name(s) Mount Clare Mansion, Carroll Park Historic
Brief Early & Middle Woodland shell midden, 18th century estate with brick mansion, gardens, and Unknown Description: orchards destruction of the kitchen structure, & post-destruction filling episodes. A total of 16,343 artifacts were recovered from all excavated soil layers (included in the table above as “miscellaneous objects”). This total does not include objects excavated from features. The assemblage included 414 items associated with the kitchen occupation, 12,942 from the destruction episode, & 2,987 from post-destruction fill layers. Artifacts tallies for the features are not described in the full site report.
Excavations did result in the discovery of kitchen structural foundations & provided details of the shape & layout of the kitchen. These are provided in the full site report. In addition, a central chimney foundation with two fireplaces, one well-preserved hearth area, & evidence of an associated oven were encountered. An addition to the kitchen (entryway as opposed to another work area), was also identified. Partial evidence of a post-in-ground structure that pre-dated the 1767 Carroll kitchen foundations was also found. The burial of quartz crystals near some of the support posts for this structure (the function of which is unknown), may signal some connection with an African-American occupation. The placement of quartz crystals in such “caches” has often been interpreted as ritualized activity by individuals of West African origin or descent. The method of construction used for the building was common to the 17th & 18th C., & stratigraphic evidence clearly dates the building to prior to the 1760s. It may date to the early occupation of the site by Dr. Carroll.
The destruction-period layers of the site were identified primarily on the basis of the presence of brick chunks, mortar & building stone concentrated in fill soils. In many units an obvious increase of such debris was identified at the base of the same stratigraphic level across the site. Exceptions to this were seen in the south end of the site where even more recent disturbances had impacted the late 19th C. layers.
Later deposits at the site included multiple layers of soil fill brought in after the kitchen was demolished in the 1870s, planting holes for shrubs planted on the site during the late 19th & early 20th centuries, & the filled in trenches that were excavated during archeological work in 1978.
Most of the Carroll-era kitchen features & earlier features were preserved in place. It is entirely possible that the chimney foundations & other structures encountered in 1986 preserve even earlier structures beneath them. At the conclusion of the 1986 excavations, the features were preserved in place by covering them with plastic & placing a pea gravel cap over the plastic. Personnel at the mansion evidently decided shortly thereafter that this was impeding drainage & might damage the east wing of the mansion & removed the pea gravel covering. The impact of this action is not known, as no archeologists were consulted at the time & no archeologists observed the removal to ensure that features were not damaged.
An intensive excavation was carried out on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th terraces & their connecting slopes from 1987 through early June of 1989 by BCUA. The overall goal of the project was to establish, as accurately as possible, the historic configuration of the 18th C. formal terraced garden, including terrace elevations & dimensions, angles of slopes & ramps, & any established boundaries. Archeologists also hoped to identify evidence of planting beds & planting patterns on the individual terraces, as well as for any garden architecture, such as garden pavilions, or walls. Throughout the three-season project excavators collected soil samples from selected layers & features, some of which were submitted for pollen & floral analysis. Unfortunately, BCUA archeologists most familiar with the analysis state that the botanical results did not provide enough information to develop historically accurate planting patterns. Samples from open sites, such as terraces, are often open to erosion, rain, wind, & sun over long periods of time, & all these factors reduce the chances of finding well- sealed archeological deposits with significant amounts of plant remains.
The 1987 & 1988 excavations focused on the terraces, while the 1989 BCUA project began on the terraces & expanded to the site of the former orangery. In 1987, the excavation strategy began with a series of randomly spaced 1.524 X 1.524 m units west of the central ramp on the second terrace. The general sampling strategy was to space units out across the area to increase the chances of intersecting 18th C. landscaping features. After excavating 10 units, however, the crew determined that this portion of the terrace contained mostly disturbed soil strata dating no earlier than the mid or late 19th C. Therefore, in an effort to more efficiently satisfy its basic research goals, the BCUA designed a trenching plan in which a monitoring archeologist would observe while a backhoe or gradall operator would mechanically excavate a series of alternating, long trenches down the terraces to subsoil unless features or historic surfaces were encountered. The archeology crew would then scrape the trench walls & floors looking for landscape features. Any identified features would be excavated according to standard methods, & then the archeologists would map the long trench profiles & record reference elevation points for each.
During the 1987 season, a total of thirteen 1.524 X 1.524 m units were excavated & screened for artifacts. Twenty one trenches between 1.22 & 1.83 m (4 & 6 ft) long were also excavated according to the trenching plan. Most trenches were excavated to the west of the central ramp, however, one unit & one relatively short trench were placed on the ramp & eight longer trenches we replace to the east. Soil samples were collected from strata in the trench walls, but unless features were encountered, artifacts collected during the 1987 trench excavations were only loosely provenienced. Based on the trenching, it was determined that the 4th & 5th terraces contained no strata dating prior to early 20th C. re-landscaping by the Baltimore City Parks. Therefore, it was concluded that these two lowest terraces were constructed by the Park Commission & that they had not been part of the Carroll-period landscape.
1988 excavations focused on the 2nd & 3rd terraces east of the central ramp. It appears that no additional testing was conducted on or west of the ramp in 1988. Within the terrace excavations project area, seven large sub-areas were defined. Four were located within the eastern side of the second terrace & two were on the half-terrace or “terrace apron” southeast of the second terrace. Two more were on the east side of the third terrace. Trenches were mechanically excavated in three areas east of the ramp to serve as stratigraphic references for subsequent work. Surface soil layers determined to be modern were excavated from each area by gradall & a grid of 1.524 X 1.524 units was laid out within each gradall cut. One hundred & eighteen such units were excavated in the various sub-areas from April through October of 1988. A limited number of features dating from the late 1700s or early 1800s were identified, however, most excavated soil layers & features dated later than the Carroll family occupation.
The most unexpected of all archeological discoveries at 18BC10 came during the 1988 excavations. A prehistoric shell midden was found beneath the second terrace fill soils. Part of the deposit had been truncated, probably during construction or repair, but enough remained to date & interpret it as part of a Middle Woodland campsite. Diagnostic pottery, identified as Mockley ware, was consistent with two carbon-14 dates from separate samples: 990 ± 70 radiocarbon years before present, & 940 ± 60 radiocarbon years before present. When calibrated these results correspond to a calendrical date range (2 sigma) of AD 896- 1208 & AD 995-1216 respectively. The midden was documented across three excavation units & was approximately 9.14 cm (.3 ft) at its deepest point. Other artifacts included animal bone, debitage, & two hammerstones.
Another large area on the third terrace was excavated during the spring & early summer of 1989. It was located west of the central ramp & east of the westernmost 1987 trenches. It appears that the same methods established in 1988 were followed during this final terrace project. A large circular or oblong feature of dry-laid bricks was the principle discovery during this brief final phase. Researchers tentatively identified the feature as dating prior to the late 18th or early 19th C. based on the overlying stratigraphy. It was also observed that another roughly circular feature, constructed of dry-laid stones, had been documented the previous season on the opposite side of the ramp & that their relation to each other with respect to the ramp & downslope of the second Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18BC10 Site Name: Mount Clare Prehistoric Other name(s) Mount Clare Mansion, Carroll Park Historic
Brief Early & Middle Woodland shell midden, 18th century estate with brick mansion, gardens, and Unknown Description: orchards
terrace were very similar.
BCUA’s attention near the end of the 1989 season turned from the terraces to the location of the former orangery. This was the most ambitious project to date in the orangery area. It entailed the excavation of 32 (mostly) 1.524 X 1.524 m, more or less contiguous units. Unfortunately, the field records from this work are inadequate to enable a detailed recapitulation of the evidence. Furthermore, the majority of the effort was focused on the area to the west of the orangery, where structural remains of one or more buildings were revealed. Based largely on the documentary evidence indicating that a “pinery” was also present & may have been erected adjoining the west end of the orangery, the structure encountered there in 1989 was interpreted to have been the pinery. Evidence was revealed for two rooms situated west of the orangery, one of which contained the remains of a brick floor, with at least one more room located farther west.
A surface of small rounded stones was revealed running across the north side of the orangery site, which seemed to align with a similar feature revealed in another unit in 1984. As the feature was situated just north of the building foundation & ran parallel to the structure for at least 4.57 m (15 ft), it was hypothesized to be a “cobble spatter”, or a drainage feature associated with the drip line of the building. Subsequent excavation in the orangery/pinery area seems to refute this interpretation, however, as it was determined that the cobbles overlay a stratum of brick & mortar rubble, which in turn overly the orangery foundation.
Following the work in 1989, archeological research at 18BC10 took a bit of a hiatus for roughly the next decade. In 1990, the Carroll Park Foundation (CPF) was founded, with the mission to re-create the pre-Revolutionary iron plantation established & operated by Charles Carroll beginning in the 1750s. The CPF was founded as a private organization licensed by the property owners (the City of Baltimore) to conduct archeological research relating to historic Mt. Clare. Since the Maryland Historical Trust holds a perpetual easement on the property, such research must be conducted in consultation with MHT.
In 1997, the CPF initiated a campaign of intensive excavation at the site of the Mt. Clare orangery. This work continued intermittently through 1999. The study was supported by a combination of public & private funds. Public support came in the form of a Federal transportation enhancement program grant, making the undertaking subject to Section 106 compliance.
From June 1997 until December 1998, a total of 45 test units (most of which were 1.524 X 1.524 m in size, but including portions of previously incompletely excavated units) were excavated at the site of the orangery. In addition, a total of 38 units that had been excavated between 1984 & 1989 were relocated & uncovered. In several instances, unexcavated strata survived in those units & were subsequently excavated. In so doing, the entire footprint of the orangery was revealed, studied, & documented. In May & October of 2000, final overall photographs were taken, surviving soil profiles were re-examined, & samples of brick & mortar were taken from several points on the foundation & associated masonry features. The mortar samples were analyzed to assist in dating the various components of the larger orangery/pinery complex. The site was backfilled & stabilized for long-term preservation shortly thereafter.
Although the archeological remains were found to have been adversely impacted by construction & landscaping activities carried out subsequent to the demise of the building in the mid 19th C., & more recently by the series of poorly reported archeological excavations conducted at the site, significant portions of the building footprint & associated features were found to be relatively well-preserved. A full description of the layout of the orangery and associated pinery and hypocausts is provided in the full site report for the 1997-1998 excavations.
A stratum consisting of a single layer of medium-sized cobblestones, roughly 76.2 cm (30 in) wide, was also revealed running along the outside of the north foundation of the orangery & extending west along the north foundation of the pinery. This is the feature previously hypothesized to be a gutter associated with the dripline. However, it overlies a thick rubble-filled stratum extending within (and over) the building’s footprint. That stratum, therefore, is related to the destruction of the orangery, & the cobblestones must post-date that event. As a result, this layer must be related to an as yet undetermined activity, possibly a pedestrian walkway, associated with the Scheutzen period of occupation or later.
Excavations over the last 4 decades at Mount Clare (18BC10) have shown that the site retains intact structural remains and significant archeological deposits bearing on important events in Maryland history. The site is considered a National Historic Landmark. Unfortunately, adequate documentation and reporting of excavation results at 18BC10 has been an ongoing problem. Significant research opportunities exist both with the extant collections from the site and in the possibility of additional excavations at Mount Clare, should portions of the site be threatened by development at the museum.
External Reference Codes (Library ID Numbers): 00005651, 00005659, 00005664, 00005579, 00005683, 00005616, 00005617, 00005685, 97000774