Bush Tavern (18HA329)
Site History
The Bush Tavern site (18PR329) is a mid-18th- to 19th- century standing masonry tavern and house, also mistakenly known as the George Washington Inn. The tavern is located in the town of Bush in Harford County, Maryland.
It does appear that the building was standing during Rochambeau’s encampment. By the mid-19th century the McGaw's own the parcel before selling it to Henry and Ann Ozman who had already been running a tavern from the location. In 1855, Henry Ozman was twice accused of selling liquor on Sunday. In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census he was listed as a schooner captain.
Archaeological Investigations
In 2016, archaeologists from the Maryland State Highway Administration and Rummel, Klepper and Kahl completed the excavation of 28 5x5-foot test units in the yard surrounding the Bush Tavern. Most of the testing was completed in the immediate vicinity of the standing Bush Tavern. The area was located along the structure's west elevation and was bound by the house to the east, a paved parking lot to the south and a wood, post-in ground fence to the west. The stratigraphy in this portion of the site consisted of several strata of twentieth century fill and modern topsoil overlying the foundations of several outbuildings associated with early to mid-19th-century use of the property as a tavern and hotel. Two building additions were identified, including a fieldstone foundation for an approximately 16 × 24-foot addition extending west from the main house block. The addition included a 7-foot wide by 4-foot deep chimney foundation along the western side of the structure. The associated structure was likely a one-story addition constructed sometime in the early-19th century and served as added living space for the tavern occupants and guests.
To the north of the foundation was a second smaller fieldstone foundation measuring approximately 8.5 & × 10-foot and included a shallow (approximately 1-1.5-foot deep) cellar. The addition likely served as a storage building for the tavern during the nineteenth century. A dry laid stone well was also identified adjacent to the small stone building and cellar. The well was likely one of the first structures built in the yard and may date to the late-18th century. Approximately four feet of fill were removed from the well and the artifacts date from the late-19th to early-20th centuries, suggesting the well was capped around this time.
Other features identified in the rear yard of the Bush Tavern included a large sheet midden dating from the early-19th century, a line of post holes associated with a fence line and several large structural post holes associated with wood-frame post-in-ground structure that may predate the 19th-century stone foundations.
Approximately ten thousand artifacts, mostly dating to the mid to late 19th century, were recovered from the site. However, some intact deposits were identified that appear to date to the 18th- and early 19th-century occupation of the property.
References
2018 Archaeological investigation of the Stone Chimney House (18HA328) and the Bush Tavern (18HA329) in Bush, Harford County, Maryland. SHA Archaeological Report Number 523 (Rummel, Klepper & Kahl) MHT # HA 140.
2017 Phase I Archaeological Investigation of Proposed Intersection Improvements at the MD 7 at MD 136 Intersection in Bush, Harford County, Maryland. SHA Archaeological Report Number 515 (Rummel, Klepper & Kahl) MHT # HA 135.
Associated Artifacts
Thimbles
Thimbles
