Ecology, Commerce, Conflict and Transportation along the Anacostia River, Part V, Transportation and Conclusion

This paper was co-authored by Mike Roller and Julie Schablitsky and presented at the 2010 Conference for the Society for Historical Archaeology. It is based upon their work in Bladensburg. Here is part V:

While excavating at Bostwick we encountered an artifact that led us to research one of the more interesting occupants of the house. Archaeologists excavating on the terraced side-gardens to the southeast of the house found an unusual looking bullet. Bullets are a common find in rural or formally- rural areas, though this one was unusually large. Later that afternoon a member of the Bladensburg police force dropped by to see how the excavation was progressing. As we usually do when the public visits our excavations, we showed him what we were finding, and asked him what he thought about them. It turns out that the officer was the firearms- training expert for the police force. He was excited to see the bullet. He carefully examined it, compared it with the bullets in his belt, measured it, and concluded that it most likely came from a big game hunting rifle from the turn of the century.

Later, we found that Bostwick, unoccupied since the 1990s, is furnished almost exclusively with taxidermied big game trophies from the occupants of the house between 1904 and about 1930. James and Hettie Kyner moved to Bladensburg when it was a sleepy rural exurbia reachable from Washington D.C. by trolley. James Kyner, a Civil War veteran, politician and railroad contractor had retired to Bladensburg after a long career building transcontinental rail lines in the West. It was here that he acquired the many big game heads that grace the walls of the house.

Before his career in the railroad industry Kyner served two terms in the state legislature of Nebraska. As a politician he was an ardent advocate for the railroad industry, opposing all measures to regulate it, at a time when this was a pressing issue in the country. For the aid he delivered to the industry he received his first contract constructing a branch line for Union Pacific for settlers in Nebraska in 1881. After more than twenty years in the business the Kyners moved east to a quiet town in the hinterlands of Washington D.C. (Kyner 1937)
In 1937 Kyner wrote an autobiography of his long and fascinating life called End of Track. Bladensburg is mentioned very briefly at the end, where he fondly describes the peace of his retirement home:
"…going East with my wife and very young daughter, I bought an old colonial home just outside the

District of Columbia, within six miles of the White House... Here, with seven acres of garden and orchard and lawn to interest me, I have stood aside for the past thirty years and let the world go by. Busying myself with bees and dogs, with chickens and with a horse or two, modernizing and reconstructing this old, old house of mine, I have played no part that could be felt so very far beyond the pillars at my gate. I have seen, as from a seat in a theater, the drama of the world. Here and there it touches me, of course, but mostly it does not."

Ironically, it is the congestion of unbridled growth that began in the late 19th century that would eventually overtake the Bladensburg that Kyner hid from in his house on the hill. Today, the historic core of the town is crisscrossed by the commercial developments and transportation routes that snake along major commuting arteries leading in and out of Washington D.C. It was these transportation routes that had brought people to Bladensburg throughout the years, by river, by road, by rail, by trolley, each leaving a bit of themselves behind in the archaeological record. For the public, the obliteration of the historical landscape is one of the major concerns expressed at public events. They hope that the archaeological and historical work being undertaken by SHA and U of MD will help them to recreate a walking city within this cultural landscape that is commensurate with the complexity and depth of Bladensburg history as we are coming to understand it. Above all, this is what the public has asked from our archaeology project.

Using a combination of public outreach and traditional scientific methods the Bladensburg Archaeology Project has made our work meaningful to the communities of Bladensburg. Inviting the public to take part in the archaeological process aided us in making the physical discoveries meaningful to the town. It has helped us, and the community, relate the data we find underground to themes that are relevant locally and nationally, historically and in the present. Through the narrative of archaeological research, we can connect the complex history of a small locality to broader national themes of contemporary importance. Through the themes of ecology, conflict, commerce and transportation we can highlight the complexity of a history that the community can be both critical and proud of.

"Ecology, Commerce, Conflict and Transportation along the Anacostia River", Part IV, Conflict

This paper was co-authored by Mike Roller and Julie Schablitsky and presented at the 2010 Conference for the Society for Historical Archaeology. It is based upon their work in Bladensburg. Here is part IV:

After the river silted in and rendered the port unnavigable, Bladensburg’s economy suffered. However it continued to serve an auxiliary role as a way station for travelers. In the 19th century its location at the intersection of major roads to Annapolis, Baltimore, Georgetown, Upper Marlboro, Alexandria and Washington D.C. made it a major stopping point for travelers. The bridge over the Anacostia River also served to make it a strategic spot during the War of 1812 when the British confronted limited American resistance in their march to burn Washington in August of 1814. At our workshops and public events many people ask if we have found anything from the battle. For the town this singular event and its historical context is the most significant to Bladensburg’s heritage. As enthusiasm has been growing in anticipation of the bicentennial, tour groups from all over the country have visited Bladensburg and the rest of the DC area tracing the path of the British.

In fact, the battle itself took place to the west of town, but it is likely that many of the buildings in town, including the Magruder house, served as field hospitals for British troops. While excavating at the house, SHA archaeologists recovered a British 1774 King George halfpenny like the one pictured. For the public and the press, the coin was a palpable connection to the period of time just before the American Revolution and the subsequent tension that led up to the forgotten and fascinating event that made the town famous again, the Battle of Bladensburg. We cannot be certain where the coin came from, whether it was dropped by a wounded British soldier or was simply amongst the pocket change of Mr. Henderson, the occupant of the house at the time. A variety of foreign currency was used in the American colonies, as were valuable commodities such as tobacco and sugar. However, it serves to remind us, and the community, of the political ties that connected Bladensburg and the rest of the fledgling nation with England in its first century. These ties, broken by revolution in 1776, came back to Bladensburg in a conflict in which it would serve a pivotal role. Many residents of the town hope that event, with the upcoming bicentennial in 2012, will bring attention back to the town.

"Ecology, Commerce, Conflict and Transportation along the Anacostia River" Part III, Commerce

This paper was co-authored by Mike Roller and Julie Schablitsky and presented at the 2010 Conference for the Society for Historical Archaeology. It is based upon their work in Bladensburg. Here is Part III:

The Market Master’s house is a ca. 1760 stone structure built by Christopher Lowndes, a prominent merchant and slave trader in the region. He operated several businesses including a ropewalk and an import business in the structures he built in the town of Bladensburg. Among the artifacts recovered at the Market Master’s house was a fragment of black transfer-printed creamware printed with an inscription. Research resulted in finding an image of a matching teapot, helping us to complete the inscription. It reads: “When this you see, Remember me, And bear me in your mind; Let all the world, Say what they will, Speak of me as you find”. On the rear of the teapot is a poignant image of a couple parting, the man gesturing towards a three-masted sailing ship. Transfer-printing on creamware, often with a nautical theme to commemorate a sea voyage to the colonies, was mass-produced for export to the American colonies by Wedgewood in the third quarter of the 18th century (Nelson 1980:93).

The poignant message and image reminds us of the ties of commerce that connected Bladensburg to a global network of trade that reached across the ocean to England where tobacco was sold and goods, as well as people, were collected for export. This network also extended to Africa where human labor was collected for the long sea journey that resulted in death for many, and misery for the rest. Bladensburg would have been a major destination for global trade, with its deep harbor and location convenient to the dispersed tobacco growing population of early Maryland. Traces of these ties, and the society they engendered are revealed by the archaeology, and serve us as a way of engaging the public about this history. The nautical scene made us think of the many people that made their way to Bladensburg and to other American colonies, some with fortunes, some with dreams, and many against their will.

“Ecology, Commerce, Conflict and Transportation Along the Anacostia River”, Part II, Ecology

This paper was co-authored by Mike Roller and Julie Schablitsky and presented at the 2010 Conference for the Society for Historical Archaeology. It is based upon their work in Bladensburg. Here is part II:

Chartered in 1742 as a port town, Bladensburg is located on the Anacostia River south of the confluence of the Northeast and Northwest branches. This location was chosen for its suitability as a port for the export of tobacco from plantations spread across Maryland in the 18th and 19th centuries. But, archaeology revealed that the ecology of the Anacostia River near Bladensburg attracted inhabitants much earlier. One of the findings that stirred excitement was a Bare Island quartzite biface dating to the Late Archaic period.

Throughout our excavations we encountered evidence of Native American occupation dating from the Late Archaic to the Woodland Periods. Previously, no recorded Native American sites had been documented. One of our visitors, a representative of the nearby Piscataway tribe and a former resident of Bladensburg, was enthused that the archaeology corroborated the findings of oral narrative. Piscataway oral history describes the shores of the Anacostia River as heavily populated; taking advantage of the rich resources of the wetlands on the edges of the riverbanks and migratory fish in the deep estuarine waters. During the Woodland Period forests were burnt to maintain grassy meadows for corn farming, attracting game and the construction of palisaded villages. By the time of European arrival, complex regional politics had developed and the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed were used as “avenues of commerce and communication”. European settlers would eventually dominate, and completely replace the Native American occupants of the region, settling often in the same spots that offered congenial environmental advantages. These remains were hidden below centuries of silt from the flooding waters of the Anacostia.

The early inhabitants of Bladensburg began, in small degrees, an ecological alteration of the river that, during subsequent European occupation would completely change its ecology. Silt from intensive tobacco farming rendered the river unnavigable by the mid 19th century. Flooding, already a problem in the 18th century was exacerbated by the altered water channel and the routing of runoff from impermeable surfaces into the river. The natural curvatures of the river, which produced the resource-rich floodplain environments used by its prehistoric inhabitants, were straightened and surrounded by dikes by the Army Corps of Engineers beginning in 1952.

The comments we get from the public when we present this evidence from our excavations are often something along the lines of “You found that here, right in town!?” The river’s environment has been so radically changed by its long succession of inhabitants that earlier history, before the concrete, strip malls, and toxic silt, has been essentially unimaginable. But for many residents and Native Americans in the region, finding that Bladensburg history reaches as far back as 5,000 years or older is both a surprise and an affirmation that the river that wound through town was once a rich natural resource that brought people to settle here.

“Ecology, Commerce, Conflict and Transportation Along the Anacostia River”, Part I, Public Outreach

This paper, co-authored by Mike Roller and Julie Schablitsky, was presented at the annual Society for Historical Archaeology conference in January of this year. Here is Part I of the paper:

The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) and the Center for Heritage Resource Studies (CHRS) at the University of Maryland designed the Bladensburg Archaeology Project as a collaborative partnership to investigate the historic resources of the town of Bladensburg, Maryland in anticipation of the upcoming War of 1812 Bicentennial. Bladensburg, a seemingly ordinary suburban community located approximately two miles to the northeast of the Washington, D.C. border, has a rich history that stretches back to the Colonial period. Since that time, Bladensburg has rapidly changed as a result of broad regional and national changes in ecology, economy, political geography, and demography. Today, the historic landscape is invisible behind the dense fabric of transportation corridors, commercial development and industrial spaces. Through archaeology and community outreach, this modern veil has parted to reveal a complex history that spans from the prehistoric period to the mid 20th century.

The project incorporated a civic engagement component that directly involved the community in discovering its past. In engaging the public through addressing their questions about our work and our finds, sharing in their enthusiastic reactions and joining in their civic functions, we were better able to share the experience of our work, and its findings in a way that was meaningful and relevant to the community. Additionally, in demystifying the process of doing archaeology we helped the public understand how it works, why it is important, and how it can be useful to them in their community today.

Since the initiation of the project in the spring of 2009 archaeologists and historians investigated three archaeological sites, conducted documentary and deed research, and compiled architectural inventories in the town. The outreach component of the project began a few weeks before excavations commenced. An initial public history workshop presented the plans and goals of the project to the community. The workshop included a talk by local historians followed by a community discussion in which attendants were encouraged to provide feedback and communicate their interests in the project.

The Maryland State Highway Administration began excavations at the Magruder house, a ca. 1746 stone house built for William Hilleary, in May of 2009. Public site tours, a press conference, and news releases accompanied this work. Throughout the process, staff maintained a project blog with daily updates collected from each member of the field crew. Through the blog, researchers answered questions from the community and from a wider public audience. In June of 2009 CHRS joined the State Highway archaeologists to investigate the grounds of the Market Master's house. Like the Magruder house, open site tours, electronic documentation and public presentations accompanied the archaeology work. Upon completion of the excavation, a second workshop allowed members of the community to provide feedback, view artifacts, and discuss local history. In order to engage and initiate dialogue from the community, project staff also attended numerous community events, celebrations, and meetings where they presented artifacts and released preliminary interpretations from the work. Although insufficient time had passed to reveal results from the excavations, these opportunities to publicly demonstrate the process of archaeology was key to project goals.

If These Sherds Could Talk

Nichole: I learned about a new ceramic type today that I have never seen before. I was curious about two small rim fragments from the Market Master House collection that looked pretty unusual. They were thinly potted redware sherds with yellow and dark brown/black transfer printed decoration on both sides. (See bottom left photo.) With only having very small pieces, I was having a hard time imagining what the rest of the pot could possibly have looked like. The odd color combination and wild pattern made me think it must have been a gift that was only displayed when the person who gave it came to visit.

At a colleague’s suggestion, I looked for the mystery sherds in a wonderful reference book; Hume’s If These Pots Could Talk. Sure enough, there it was; a picture of a beautiful Portobello ware milk pitcher. Our once complete milk pitcher was imported from Scotland in the late eighteenth century. Since Bladensburg was a port town, its residents could easily access foreign goods. Portobello ware has also been found at Riversdale.

Conference Paper Presentation on the Bladensburg Archaeology Project

Early in January of this year two members of the Bladensburg Archaeology Project presented a preliminary conference paper on their work with the public. The paper, entitled “Ecology, Commerce, Conflict and Transportation Along the Anacostia River”, was presented at the annual Society for Historical Archaeology conference held this year in Amelia Island, Florida. (conference and society website: http://www.sha.org/about/conferences/2010.cfm) It was co-authored by Michael Roller and Julie Schablitsky. The conference session it was featured in was entitled “Big History at Small Places”. It focused on projects like Bladensburg that contain long and diverse archaeological histories in confined geographical areas. Papers were delivered from projects as far away as Iceland, Mongolia, Alaska, California and Massachusetts. We’ll post the paper on the blog in increments.

We are also planning our upcoming field season starting this May. We will kick it off with a workshop to be held in mid-April. The topic is yet to be decided. We look forward to seeing you there! Keep your eye on the blog in the meantime.