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Site Report: Gunston Hall Apts., S. Washington Street

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Site Report: Gunston Hall Apts., S. Washington Street II • I FINAL REpORT APRIL 14, 2005 I . I , PHASE l ARcmvAL AND ARCHEOLOGICAL I I INVESTIGATIONS AT THE GUNSTON HALL APARTMENTS, I ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA I I, I I I , I PREPARED FOR: I , GUNSTON HALL REALTY, INC. 7639 FULLERTON ROAD . I SPRINGFIELD, VIRGINIA 22152 I , , . I I R. CHRISTOPHER GOODWIN & ASSOCIATES, INC. I 241 EAST FOURTIl STREET, SrnTE 100· FREDERICK, MD 21701 I ,--------- II Phase I Archival and Archeological Investigations I at the Gunston Hall Apartments, I Alexandria, Virginia I Final Report I I Christopher R. Poiglase, M.A., ADD Principal Investigator I I I by I David J. Soldo, M.A. and Martha R. Williams, M.A., M.Ed. R Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc. I 241 East Fourth Street Suite 100 I Frederick, Maryland 21701 I I APRIL 2005 I for Gunston Hall Realty, Inc. 7639 Fullerton Road Springfield, Virginia 22152 I II I I ABSTRACT I The Phase I Archival and Archeological coordinated with the professional Study of the Gunston Hall Apartments in archeological staff of the City of Alexandria. I Alexandria, Virginia, was conducted during Five backhoe trenches and one test unit December 2000, by R. Christopher Goodwin were excavated within the project area. One & Associates, inc., on behalf of Gunston Hall portion of the project area originally scheduled I Realty, Inc., of Springfi eld, Virginia. The for testing was omitted from the study due to project area occupies the block bounded by interference from live util ity lines. Features Washington, Church, Columbus, and Green exposed during fi eld investigations included a I streets at the southern edge of the city. and sheet midden of twentieth century trash and a encompasses a total area of approximately 2.3 planting hole related to recent landscaping ac (99,000 sq ft). The project was undertaken activities around the apartment complex; to enable Gunston Hall Realty, Inc. to gain neither feature was assessed as significant. I clearance for the project area prior to The test excavations revealed no evidence of undertaking redevelopment of the property. surviving grave shafts associated with the The specific objectives of the Phase I freedmen's Cemetery, nor did they identify I study were to identify any evidence of two any intact features related to the nineteenth historic resources on this parcel: the ca. 1863· century brickyard. 1869 Freedmen's (Contraband) Cemetery of The study concluded that no further I Alexandria. which may have extended into the archeological investigations are recommended southern portion of the project block, and the or warranted within tested areas of the Gunston O'Neal and Corbett brickyard, which occupied Hall Apartment property. However, additional the entire block after 1875. Research methods archeological work was recommended along I included archival research, completion of a the Church Street perimeter of the property in preliminary archeological disturbance study, areas that were not available for testing during sub-surface testing of designated portions of the current study. This additional work was I the project area, and laboratory analysis of conducted in 2003 and is included as an recovered materials. The research design and appendix, herein. I fie ld strategies were designed by and I I I I I R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc. I ~- ~-- ------ --- -- • • • • • • • • • • • I • • • • • ;v R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc. • • I I I TABLE OF CONTENTS I ABSTRACT ..........................................................................................................................................ii I LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................. vi I LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................. vii I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... I Project Location and Description .............................................................................................. 1 I Research Design and Objectives ....................................................................................... ........ 4 Organization of the Report ........................................................................................................ 4 II. METHODS ............................................................................................................................... 6 I Archival Methods ...................................................................................................................... 6 Field Methods ............................................................................................................................ 8 Research Design and Original Methodology ................................................................ 8 I Pedestrian Survey and Preliminary Disturbance Assessment.. ..................................... 9 Remote Sensing Study ................................................................................................ 10 Field Investigations ..................................................................................................... 14 Laboratory Analysis ................................................................................................................. 14 I Records and Curation .............................................................................................................. 15 IIJ. RESULTS OF ARCHIVAL INVESTIGATIONS .............................................................. 16 I Previous Investigations ............................................................................................................ 16 Historic Context ....................................................................................................................... 17 Antebell um Period .................................................................................................... 17 I The Freedmen's (Contraband) Cemetery ................................................................... 18 The Civil War Period ..................................................................................... 18 The Post Bellum Period ................................................................................ 20 Gunston Hall Apartment Parcel .................................................................................. 23 I Brick-making Technology .......................................................................................... 34 Late Nineteenth Century Brickmaking in Alexandria ................................................ 40 I General Cootext ............................................................................................. 40 IV. ARCHEOLOGICAL RESULTS .......................................................................................... 43 Remote Sensing .............. ............................................................ ................... 43 I Previous Investigations ............................................................................................... 43 Results ........................................................................................................................ 44 Mechanized Trenching ............................................................................................................ 52 Trench A ..................................................................................................................... 52 I Trench B ..................................................................................................................... 55 Trench C ..................................................................................................................... 58 Trench E ..................................................................................................................... 60 I Trench F ...................................................................................................................... 60 I R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc. v I I I Stratigraphy ................................................................................................... 60 Artifactual Evidence ... ........................... ....................... ........................ 64 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 68 Freedmen's (Contraband) Cemetery ........................................................................... 68 I O'Neal and Corbett Brickyard .................................................................................... 69 V. SUMMARY AND MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................ 71 I Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 72 RRFRRRNCRS CITRD .. .................................................................. N I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................. 78 ARTIFACT INVENTORY .............................................. ................................................... Appendix I I EXCERPTS FROM SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN (1886) ARTICLE ON BRICKMAKING TECHNOLOGY .................................. ..................... ...... .............. Appendix II I ARCIlEOLOGICAL EVALUATION, 915 S. WASHINGTON STREET, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, GUNSTON HALL APTS
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