COMBINED PHASE I ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY BUILDING/LANDSCAPE AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT PLAN ST. ELIZABETHS HOSPITAL - WEST CAMPUS 2700 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. AVENUE, SE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA [SITE NUMBER 51SE46] Prepared For: Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects United States General Services Administration (Contract GS11P05MQC0001) Prepared by: Ian Burrow, Principal Damon Tvaryanas, Principal Architectural Historian William Liebeknecht, Principal Investigator Nadine Sergejeff, Historian AUGUST 2005
ABSTRACT This report presents the results of a phase I archaeological survey undertaken in 2004-2005 on the West Campus of St. Elizabeths Hospital, which lies on the east side of the Anacostia River in southern portion of Washington, D.C. The site is a National Historic Landmark. The purpose of the investigation was to provide the United States General Services Administration (GSA), sponsor of the undertaking, with baseline information on the location, character, and potential significance of below-ground archaeological resources on the property. Plans are under development for the adaptive use or disposal of the property by the federal government. Resources of all periods from prehistory through the mid-20th century were targets for the work. The work was required in order for the GSA to address its responsibilities for historic properties under Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (as amended), and Executive Order 11593. This work forms part of a wider team study of the cultural resources of the campus commissioned by the GSA. The buildings and landscapes of the property are the subject of separate reports by Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects and Heritage Landscapes respectively, the intention being to develop an integrated and comprehensive documentation of the historic elements of the campus. Following background research designed to supplement baseline data created in a 1993 archaeological management plan study, a program of field survey, shovel testing and metal detector scans was implemented early in 2005. Using the1993 approach, the property was divided into four physiographic zones (Bluff/Plateau; Steep Slopes; Moderate Slopes; Terraces) for analytical purposes. Over 360 shovel tests were excavated, based on a 100-foot grid, across all portions of the campus where soils bearing cultural materials could be expected to survive or were accessible to manual testing. Close interval testing was undertaken around tests where potentially significant resources were recovered. Artifact yields were low and soil integrity highly variable, with much later 19th- and 20th-century disturbance. A total of 13 prehistoric artifacts (12 pieces of debitage and cores and one pieces of thermally altered rock) were recovered from 11 shovel tests. Only in one instance, on the Point, were artifacts found in close proximity. No historic materials earlier than the last quarter of the 18th century were identified, and only small quantities of later 18th- and early 19th-century artifacts recovered. From the hospital era, a trash dump from the first half of the 20th century and a single, isolated civil war uniform button were the only noteworthy items. Field survey and background research combined to suggest that further work was desirable in several areas: 1. The orchard area on the moderate slopes in the northwestern portion of the property. Soil conditions, archaeological data, landscape features and documentary studies combine to suggest that potentially significant resources relating at least to the 18th- and 19th-century use of the property lies in this area. Cartographic synthesis, survey and excavation are recommended in this area. i
ABSTRACT (CONTINUED) 2. Phase II investigations of possible prehistoric locus on the Point. 3. Preservation of the powerhouse ravine dump. 4. Preservation and evaluation of the Civil War cemetery. 5. Supplementary survey in the ravine areas. In addition to these feature-specific recommendations, it is also recommended that the immense quantity of historical documentation for St. Elizabeths continue to be collated and used as a tool for incorporating historic preservation objectives into the planning for the future of this site. Records and artifacts from this project will be deposited with the General Services Administration. ii
PUBLIC REPORT SUMMARY St. Elizabeths Hospital, set on the high bluffs south of the Anacostia River in Washington D.C., is a National Historic Landmark It is important in the history of the nation because of its pioneering role in the development of the treatment of mental illness. Established by the federal government in 1852 on the urging of mental health advocate Dorothea Dix, parts of the hospital remain in use today. The beautiful West Campus, with its impressive 19th-century buildings and grounds and Civil War cemetery, is now closed. This archaeological survey of the West Campus was carried out in order to help the federal government carry out its legal responsibilities for the care of historic sites that it owns. At the present time (2005) the hospital property is under the care of the General Services Administration, which has the job of identifying what is historic on the property as part of its role in finding an appropriate future use for the West Campus now that it is no longer needed as a hospital. Since the buildings of the hospital are still standing, the question might reasonably be posed as to why there is any point in doing an archaeological survey here. There are several answers. Firstly, the St. Elizabeths site has a history that extends far back beyond 1852. Indians lived along the banks of the Anacostia for thousands of years until the late 1600s. In the 17th century a large and important Indian settlement called Nacochtanke (from where the word Anacostia comes) was situated along the riverbank Earlier studies in the area around and in adjacent Maryland suggested that evidence for Indian sites might well be found at St. Elizabeths. English settlers began to take up land on the Anacostia in the mid-1600s, and the St. Elizabeths property first appears in written records in the 1660s. Although these records are not very detailed for the first 150 years after that, there is sufficient information to be sure that the site was used as a plantation : a substantial farm intended to be a money-making venture for its owner. In this part of the English colonies in America, this usually meant growing and selling tobacco. There may have been a wharf on the river from an early date to enable goods to be loaded and unloaded at the plantation. Archaeological investigations can throw light on this period of the site s history by finding artifacts and remains, such as building foundations, roads and other features from the period. The early 1800s saw more activity on the property. Several houses and smaller dwellings were present on the property by 1852, and two are shown in some detail on a map of 1839. None stand today, and the date when they were built is not known. Some may go back into colonial times. One aim of this study was to see if remains of these buildings survive on the property. After the establishment of the hospital in 1852, the landscape was transformed. As well as the construction of huge buildings, the flat plateau that forms the main part of the campus was laid out with trees, roads and pathways. This landscaping changed and developed as more buildings were added and ideas about mental health treatment changed. The history of this landscaping has been documented in a separate study, the St. Elizabeths iii
PUBLIC REPORT SUMMARY (CONTINUED) Hospital Historic Landscape Assessment Plan, by the Heritage Landscapes company. At the same time, the architectural firm of Fairwell Mills Gatsch Architects has completed a full photographic survey of all the buildings on the West Campus. The role of archaeology for understanding the history of the hospital lies in locating parts of the early hospital that no longer survive as standing structures, finding areas where trash was deposited, so that the daily life of the inmates and staff can be better understood. During the Civil War many injured soldiers were treated at St. Elizabeths. Some of those who died were buried in the cemetery on the hillside overlooking the river. Historic photographs show that there was a tented encampment around the hospital buildings, and it was also hoped to learn more about this by recovering artifacts used by the troops and dropped on the site. Hunter Research, Inc. of Trenton, New Jersey carried out the archaeological survey. The first step was to review research already completed on the St. Elizabeths site, and to examine historic documents, particularly old maps and photographs that show what the site used to be like. Fortunately, a preliminary archaeological study had been completed in 1993 that provided an excellent starting point for the current work. The 1993 study had visually examined the property and had made suggestions as to where archaeological excavation would be worthwhile. Having reviewed this earlier material, the Hunter Research team undertook a walkover survey of the property to gain a fuller understanding of the landscape and its history. We followed the 1993 study s analysis of the topography into four main types: the bluff and plateau, steep slopes below the bluffs, gentler slopes, and flatter terraces closer to the former riverbank (now Interstate 295!). Each area has its own characteristics and potential to yield archaeological information. The next task was to dig into the ground to look at the soils, to recover artifacts (things made or used by people in past) and perhaps to locate buried foundations. The type of archaeological digging carried out on a survey of this kind is termed shovel testing. Circular holes about 18 inches in diameter are dug by hand to a depth on average of about 2.5 feet. This is normally as deep as is necessary before one hits ancient soils in which no artifacts will be found. The soils removed from the hole are passed through a wire mesh screen to recover artifacts and the color and texture of the soils themselves are carefully documented. The locations of the tests are accurately mapped. At St. Elizabeths more than 360 of these tests were excavated. Most of these were spaced at 100-foot intervals in a regular grid patter. Where something was found, more tests were dug at a closer interval in that area. No tests were dug in the ravines and low ground at the southern end of the site because research showed these had been filled with modern debris, mostly in the last 50 years. Almost every other part of the site was examined. In two areas a metal detector survey was also carried out to search for the Civil War encampment and debris associated with a small store of about 1900. iv
PUBLIC REPORT SUMMARY (CONTINUED) What was found? A total of 605 artifacts were recovered from the tests and from collection on the surface. This is quite a low number, and was less than was anticipated. A handful of prehistoric stone artifacts of quartz and quartzite were found scattered across the site. These cannot be dated and are not numerous enough to tell us what exactly the people were doing. In one area, called the Point, there may be an actual prehistoric site that is worth further investigation. No artifacts or features relating to the colonial period were identified, although historical research strongly suggests that the lower slopes on the northwestern part of the property were occupied at this time. A few artifacts dating to the very late 1700s and early 1800s were found, but these did not help in pinning down the locations of buildings of this period. It also became clear that little trash remained on the site from the period of the hospital. By the second half of the 19th century higher standards of cleanliness and hygiene were becoming normal. St. Elizabeths, as a large public facility promoting the latest medical theories, probably took this very seriously. The grounds of the hospital, with their walks and plantings, were supposed to encourage the recovery of the mentally ill. Traditional casual disposal of trash near to living quarters was not acceptable in such places. The only trash deposit to be located was on one of the steep slopes in the southern part of the site. This produced a quantity of utilitarian china from the first half of the 20th century. The location of other trash disposal areas is not known. This survey was designed only to identify places and items of archaeological importance. Establishing their importance is a second task frequently entailing additional work. Recommendations made in the report for additional work are summarized below and can be seen on Figure 5.1. Archaeological excavations should be undertaken in the former orchard area near the river at the northwest side of the property to locate colonial and 19th-century sites, and more detailed investigations carried out on a prehistoric site on the Point. The preservation of the trash dump in the ravine, and the preservation of the Civil War cemetery are also identified as important tasks, together with supplementary survey in the ravines, where a stone wall feature was found. There is still an immense quantity of historical documentation for St. Elizabeths which has really yet to be collated and used as a tool for studying the site, and this is also seen as an important task for the future. v