Eighteenth-Century Wharf Construction in Baltimore, Maryland
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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1987 Eighteenth-Century Wharf Construction in Baltimore, Maryland Joseph Gary Norman College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Norman, Joseph Gary, "Eighteenth-Century Wharf Construction in Baltimore, Maryland" (1987). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625384. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-31jw-vn87 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY WHARF CONSTRUCTION IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND A Thesis .Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Anthropology The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Joseph Gary Norman 1987 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Joseph Gary Norman Approved, May 1987 Carol Ballingall o Theodore Reinhart 4jU-/V £ ^ Anne E. Yentsch TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE .................................................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................vi ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................viii INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................2 CHAPTER! 18TH-CENTURY WHARVES: TYPES & TECHNOLOGIES . 6 CHAPTER II. BALTIMORE WHARVES AND WHARFBUILDERS . 28 CHAPTER III. CHEAPSIDE WHARF: HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY . 47 CHAPTER IV. WHARF AND DOCK MAINTENENCE................................. 85 CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS............................................................................ 98 APPENDIX A .....................................................................................................106 APPENDIX B ......................................................................................................109 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................118 VITA 132 PREFACE In November and December of 1984, the Baltimore Center for Urban Archaeology had an opportunity to excavate and expose a portion of Cheapside wharf in the Inner Harbor business district of downtown Baltimore. The excavation took place over 33 days under the direction of the author. This document, however, is not a site report. As a Master’s thesis it is, rather, an attempt to make a scholarly contribution to the growing field of "waterfront archaeology." The increasing incidence of archaeological excavations on buried and semi-submerged historic wharves has created a need for archaeologists working on these sites to familiarize themselves with the technology available to the people who created these structures. It is the intent of this work to provide a starting point for archaeologists undertaking this process. Due to a lack of funding, the copious amounts of data recovered during the 1984 excavation of Cheapside wharf have not, as of this writing, been organized into a report. The information disclosed here is not intended to remedy that situation but, instead, to illustrate various aspects of wharf construction technology and problems relating to it. In no way should this data be considered an expression of the sum total of the information recovered archaeologically. The complete written and photographic record of the excavation is currently housed with the artifacts at the Baltimore Center for Urban Archaeology in Baltimore and is accessible for study. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my appreciation to Carol Ballingall, Anne Yentsch, Ted Reinhart, and Louise Akerson for their evaluations and criticisms of this manuscript. I also wish to acknowledge the contributions or Carmen Weber, who shared with me the burden of directing the Cheapside wharf excavation, and the staff of the Baltimore Center for Urban Archaeology. For their assistance during my documentary research on wharves, I extend my thanks to the staff members of The Henry Francis duPont Winterthur Museum and Library, the Eluetherian Mills—Hagley Library, the Baltimore City Archives, and the Maryland Hall of Records. I wish to thank Joan Geismar and Ken Beem for taking time out of their busy schedules to discuss my findings. Credit must also be given to the Maryland Humanities Council, the Rouse Company, and Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer without whom investigation of Cheapside wharf would never have taken place. I also want to thank my parents, Joe and Nancy Norman, for their support and faith that I would finish this thesis—some day. Finally, I cannot offer enough gratitude to Stacia Gregory for her candor and comments throughout the preparation of this thesis. Her contribution of computer hardware made the timely completion of this work possible. v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. View of Philadelphia from the water in 1778. 2. Maryland Archaeological Research Units. 3. Map of Downtown Baltimore. 4. Wharf cribbing. 5. Crib wharf -— Philadelphia, circa 1801. 6. View of pile-wall wharf in front of Nieuwe Stadhersberg, a public house on River Y in Amsterdam, circa 1750- 1760. 7. Early pile-driving engine. 8. German "crab engine" for pile driving. 9. Floating pile-driving engine. 10. Detail of the 1717 Burgis view of New York City showing a crib quay with what appears to be cobble fill or paving. 11. 1786 plat of Baltimore waterfront. 12. 1818 plan of the opening and extension of Pratt Street in Baltimore. 13. Detail of the west bulkhead — Cheapside wharf. 14. Southward view of the west bulkhead of Cheapside wharf. 15. Detail of the west bulkhead of Cheapside wharf showing lap joint. 16. Detail of the southeast corner of the second crib extension of Cheapside wharf. 17. Rounded logs in the end of the 200-foot extension of Cheapside wharf. 18. Northward view of the west bulkhead of Cheapside wharf. 19. Detail of trunneled mortise and tenon joint — Cheapside wharf. 20. Anchor pile placed at the northeast corner of the final extension of Cheapside wharf to prevent displacement of cribbing by "mud wave." 21. Two diagonal corner ties mortised into the south wall of a crib — Cheapside wharf. 22. Profile sketch of deposition in the dock against the west bulkhead of Cheapside wharf. 23. Profile drawing of a section of Cheapside dock showing accumulation of road surfaces. 24. Scoop dredge making use of human power. 25. Dutch "power dredge" operated by horses. vii ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate the various wharf-building technologies available during the eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. Discussion of wharf-building techniques is undertaken in the first chapter and focused in the second chapter on the use of timber cribs in the construction of Baltimore wharves. Evidence for specialization of wharfbuilders in the late-eighteenth century is also presented. The findings from historical and archaeological research on Cheapside wharf in Baltimore are outlined in Chapter III to illustrate the typical development of wharves in that City during the eighteenth century. The next chapter discusses the maintenence of wharves and docking spaces during the eighteenth century and the technologies applied to this endeavor. The final chapter draws consclusions about the suitability of wooden wharves to the function of these structures and the changing perception of wharf-building technology in preindustrial Baltimore. EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY WHARF CONSTRUCTION IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND INTRODUCTION Wharves and the docking space they provided were an integral part of the eighteenth-century business success of Baltimore. Baltimore grew on its shipping capabilities. Exportation of raw materials, such as iron, flour, and timber, together with the importation of foreign goods, brought wealth to scores of merchants and, in turn, economic prosperity to the town. Wharves were a common sight in eighteenth-century Baltimore and often the first view visitors arriving by water were afforded of the town (Figure 1). Many of these visitors were not impressed by this sight. Ferdinand-Marie Bayard, a French officer who visited Baltimore in 1791, remarked that the "wharves are constructed of trunks of trees . [and when] the tide falls it exposes a slime which gives off foul vapors" (Bayard 1950:160). Another distinguished Frenchman arrived in Baltimore in 1794 and was also distressed by the condition of the town's waterfront. Mederic Moreau de Saint Mery was quick to notice that the wharves in Baltimore were "always made for the convenience of their owners, who always build them out into the harbor." He further described spaces where water filled large indentations in the direction of the town, while nearby wharves stuck out like jetties. This gave "an air 2 Figure 1. View of Philadelphia from the water in 1778. The wharves of Baltimore would have created a similar scene for visitors in