James Robinson House (44PW288)
Site History
The James Robinson House site (44PW288) is a 19th-century African-American dwelling site located on the Manassas National Battlefield Park in Prince William County, Virginia. The house was named for the family of James Robinson, a free Black, who built the house. Robinson was one of the wealthiest Black men in Prince William County. The Robinson family owned and occupied the house and the land around it from the 1840s until 1936. The house survived the Battles of Bull Run during the Civil War but was destroyed by fire in 1993.
Archaeological Investigations
Phase I archaeological survey was conducted in 1981 as part of the Manassas Historic Sites Survey (McGarry 1982). Two seasons of Phase III excavations were conducted in the 1995 and 1996 (Parsons et al. 2001). The first season concentrated in the area immediately around and within the house ruins. During the second set of excavations, additional areas near the west portion of the house foundations and outlying yard areas were explored in the second season of work.
Numerous features uncovered during excavations included: the Robinson House hearth, sections of the house foundation, lightning grounding rods, and a pipe well. Features found in the south yard included a possible temporary, Civil War era grave, two 19th century barns, a possible root cellar, an icehouse, and foundations of an unidentified outbuilding.
References
1982 Manassas Historic Sites Survey, National Park Service, DSC-NEF.
2001 Archaeological Investigation of the Robinson House Site 44PW288: A Free African-American Domestic Site Occupied From the 1840s to 1936, Manassas National Battlefield Park. Occasional Report No. 17, Regional Archeology Program, National Capital Region, National Park Service.
Associated Artifacts
Japanese Hard-Paste Porcelain
Japanese Hard-Paste Porcelain
