Matt Manning

FALL 2012 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 Extended Edition Inside this issue: The Cultural Resources Section at the Maryland State Highway Concrete Post Reveals History 2 of Defense Housing Administration (SHA) has been busy commemorating the War of 1812 bicentennial by participating in public outreach events and making A Walk Through Historic 4 interesting discoveries. We hope you enjoy reading about our work in Taneytown this extended Fall edition of the CRaB. Caulk’s Field: MD’s Best 5 While providing you updates on our Cultural Resources Section and Preserved War of 1812 programs, we also encourage the submittal of archaeology or Battlefield architectural history articles (under 500 words) and/or photographs from you. If you have any comments, would like to submit Native American Waterway 7 announcements, or wish to be added or removed from the CRaB Names in Maryland distribution list, please contact Nichole Sorensen-Mutchie. The Booth Log House: Birth- 8 place of an Assassin Events Calendar 2012 10 Dover Bridge Outreach by Richard Ervin The Maryland As part of our public outreach program, SHA senior archaeologist Rick State Highway Ervin attended the annual Nause-Waiwash Festival and Pow-Wow on Administration is September 15, 2012 in Vienna, Maryland. The Nause-Waiwash have hosted the pow-wow here since its inception twenty years ago. Maryland committed to Commission on Indian Affairs Administrator Keith Colston was the Mas- sustaining the ter of Ceremonies. The event featured musicians and dancers from across the nation, along with a variety of cultural displays. balance between SHA displayed information on the early protecting our Colonial-period site found near the Dover cultural resources Bridge in Talbot County. Several years ago, archaeologists excavated the site. Interpre- and maintaining tive panels displayed during the festival sum- our transportation marized the important information gained from the investigations. Highlights of the system. festival can be viewed here. 17th century Westerwald jug found at site (pictured left). Page 2 Concrete Post Reveals History of Defense Housing by Rebecca Crew A modest concrete post along MD 22 at an apartment complex in Aberdeen marks an interesting aspect of American history. It doesn’t commemorate the colonial origin of the Old Post Road as decorated elsewhere by steel historic markers erected in the 1930s by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Rather, the concrete post pictured left, (a slender obelisk about four feet tall and inscribed “1942”) is a relic of a World War II defense housing project called Hamilton Courts, which housed African American defense workers and their families. The current property is called Affinity Old Post Apartments, but the chain of title traces the property back to the Federal Public Housing Authority, which acquired it through condemnation in 1943. In 1956, the U.S. Government sold the project to private owners and the streets were transferred to the Town of Aberdeen. Newspaper advertisements stated that the project had 140 wood-framed units sided with Cemesto, concrete pier foundations, oak floors, sheet rock walls, and rolled asphalt roofs. In 1956, housing remained segregated for African Americans and most of the residents were employed at the local defense installations. The advertisements and Sanborn Maps refer to the project as Hamilton Courts Project, MD 18260. Historic aerial photographs provided the layout of the buildings and sidewalks along these streets, showing 29 gable-roofed buildings, each with five walkways leading from the street (and presumably) five apartments each. A larger building, possibly a community building, is at the northeast quadrant, and an even smaller building is at the northeast corner. The aerial photographs do not provide enough detail to show the concrete post. While archival resources have provided a fair amount of information regarding Hamilton Court, the definitive purpose of the concrete post has not been established. Images of comparable defense housing projects were found at the Library of Congress’ American Memory website, documenting methods used to quickly build defense housing projects as well as concrete posts- of a taller height. At the Sojourner Truth Homes in Detroit, Michigan, posts stand along an interior sidewalk with signs attached. Similarly, several towns, especially in the Southern United States, retain concrete posts. Generally these posts are painted with street names are stenciled onto them. Close inspection of the Hamilton Court concrete post reveals two holes that run through the post parallel to Post Road, perhaps a cable was strung through the post to close Hanover Street to traffic at certain times? Or perhaps a series of concrete posts and cable fencing made a fence along the north side of Hamilton Court? Another remaining question why is the concrete post stamped "1942" when the parcel was not acquired until 1943? Did Army planners select the parcel for acquisition during 1942 and place the monument at that time, or does the monument relate to another parcel that was acquired in 1942? Or was the post prefabricated in 1942, but not installed until 1943? While these questions remain unanswered, the historic context associated with Hamilton Court is fascinating. For several years prior to the attack of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States anticipated its involvement in World War II, building weapons and vehicles, manufacturing ammunition, and training soldiers. Realizing that defense workers needed places to live near their new places of employment, thousands of housing units, both temporary and permanent, were built by the federal government. Some of the earliest defense housing projects were designed by "star" architects, and some developments in prefabrication lent a style of modernity. As the war progressed, the need for quicker and less expensive housing overcame aesthetic considerations, using prefabrication methods on traditional housing styles. Continued on page 3. Page 3 Continued from page 2... Hamilton Court served a population associated with Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG). During the build-up to World War II, the growth of jobs at APG resulted in huge population growth in Aberdeen and the sur- rounding areas causing overcrowding. The shortage of housing for African Americans was especially severe, and Hamilton Court, while not glamorous, provided decent housing for its residents. APG’s commanders eventually banned segregated housing in 1967. Elsewhere, such as in Baltimore City, the placement of defense housing projects for African Americans was a matter of public and political debate, but the federal government selected sites in accordance with the ap- proval of local government. In the middle of World War II, politicians and cities questioned whether defense housing should be temporary or permanent. Many feared that following the war, temporary housing units would become slums and real estate developers opposed permanent government-owned housing units that would lower the number of potential homeowners. However, the Korean War required housing near the same places where many temporary projects were built, including APG. Thus, some temporary housing projects, including Hamilton Court, remained occupied long after their intended use. When the project was eventually rebuilt, it was done so in phases preventing displacement of residents, but demolishing buildings and a community plan that certainly represented a remarkable era in our country's history. Housing for defense workers, Aberdeen, MD. African American residents at Detroit’s Sojourner Library of Congress. Truth Homes with similar housing design and concrete posts. Library of Congress. What is it? The copper alloy object pictured left was found on a War of 1812 battlefield site in Maryland. The artifact is 2.75mm in diame- ter. HINT: It is not a button. The winner will receive a copy of the book, Historic Bridges of Maryland and will be randomly chosen from the correct entries from the first day of the newsletter’s distribution. Email your guess to [email protected]. Good luck! To help you learn as much as possible about our submissions contained herein, we have hyperlinked many words and phrases. To access additional information, use your mouse to place the cursor over the blue underlined word and the cursor will turn into a hand. Click on the word to discover more. Page 4 A Walk Through Historic Taneytown by Anne Bruder As part of the Taneytown Streetscape project, SHA provided five interpretive panels and a walking tour brochure discussing the history of Taneytown from its founding in 1754 through the 1930s. The panels discussed Taneytown’s different religious buildings, the town’s early history, buildings constructed by Pennsylvania architect, John Augustus Dempwolf, the canning and milling industries that made Taney- town prosperous in the early 20th century, and the town’s role in the Civil War. The Civil War panel tells the story of Whitelaw Reid and how the news got to the public in the days before the 24/7 news cycle. Taneytown was the site of General George Meade’s Union Army encampment prior to the Battle of Gettysburg in June 1863. Reid was a newspaper reporter for The Cincinnati Gazette, and was one of the first reporters to regularly cover the Civil War battles and have the title of “war corre- spondent.” He had the opportunity to discuss General Meade’s plans with the General, and learned that Gettysburg was the battle site. Reid described the troops calling out to one another to “mount and spur to Gettysburg!” to express the urgency of the battle preparations. Before riding ahead of the troops, he sent his dispatches to The Cincinnati Gazette by messenger to the Frederick telegraph office. Reid spent July 1-2-3, 1863 on the Gettysburg battlefield and observed the events unfold from Cemetery Hill. He then traveled to the other parts of the battlefield to discuss the outcome with the other Union commanders. He found the carnage horrifying.

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