Catoctin/Carty House (18FR324)
Site History
The Catoctin/Carty House (18FR324) site represents the foundations of a 19th-early 20th century log house located in the Catoctin Furnace Historic District in Frederick County, Maryland. This 21' square fieldstone foundation was identified by locals as "Earl Carty's House." Early Carty worked in the Big Ore Bank south of the house. His son and daughter-in-law lived in the house, a typical log cabin, well into the 1920s.
Archaeological Investigations
In 1977, Kenneth and Ron Orr excavated seven non-systematic shovel test pit units both inside and outside the stone foundations. Artifacts recovered included stoneware ceramics dating to the 19th century, as well as white clay pipe fragments faunal bone, a button, window glass, and fragments of tin food cans.
The yard of the Carty house was excavated by Mid Atlantic Archaeological Research in 1980. The features found during this work included a subsurface trash deposit, brick walkway, slabs, and numerous postholes associated with the house. Thirteen 5 × 5' units were excavated following a 5' interval post hole survey. Preliminary analysis indicates that the site was occupied from around 1825 through the early 20th century. Most of the ceramics date to the mid-19th century and may reflect an influx of money into the community at that time, perhaps during the Civil War. Unfortunately, only a preliminary report on this excavation (FR 23B) was completed.
References
2008 Archeological Synthesis of the US Route 15 Highway Dualization Project at Catoctin Furnace, Frederick County, Maryland. (Maryland Historical Trust) MHT # FR 304.
1980 Archaeological Investigations at Catoctin Furnace, Frederick County, Maryland. Report submitted to Maryland State Highway Administration. Not on file at MHT.
1980 Interim Report of the Catoctin Furnace Archaeological Mitigation Project. (FR 23B). (FR 89).
1982 The Catoctin Furnace Archaeological Mitigation Project. (FR 23C).
1977 An Intensive Archaeological Survey of Alignment 1 Corridor, US Route 15 from Putnam Road to MD Route 77." (FR 17A) and Catoctin Furnace Intensive Survey (F05), 1977 Field Catalogue. (FR 89).
