Retallick-Brewer House (18AP37)

The site, which contains an extant 18th-century frame house, is situated on a terrace near the dock at 183 Green Street, Annapolis. The land has been used primarily for residential purposes, but documentary evidence suggests that a blacksmith operation may have been located on the property during the ownership of Simon Retallick.

The owner of the lot at the time of a 1718 city survey was Amos Garrett, the first mayor of Annapolis and a prominent merchant. Following Garrett’s death, his heirs sold the unimproved property to Dr. Charles Carroll in 1735. Carroll leased the lot to entrepreneur Thomas Williamson in 1745. It was during Williamson's tenancy that the lot was improved and the present structure may have been built. From his dwelling, Williamson operated a dry goods store and a tavern. The lease held by Thomas Williamson reverted to Carroll’s son and heir, Charles Carroll the Barrister, in 1759.

Little is known of the further development of the site until 1784, when Carroll's grandson, Nicholas Carroll, began to improve and develop his Green Street properties. The first person to lease property on the 183 Green Street was Adam Reb, who appears on the 1783 tax list. Reb is believed to have worked as a baker and a cooper. Reb was required, as part of the 99-year lease agreement, to build a two-story brick, frame or stone dwelling, "on 400 sq. ft. within three years." This requirement seems to indicate that the property was obtained unimproved. If this was the case, the improvements on Lot #28 undertaken by Thomas Williamson in the 1740s may have taken place on the south half of this property later bisected by the construction of Green Street, and not on the north half where the present structure stands. Assuming that Reb complied with the terms of the lease, the standing structure presently located at 183 Green Street may have been built sometime between 1783 and 1786. Architectural assessment, however, indicates that the earlier date (and construction by Williamson) is more likely.

In 1788, the property passed to Simon Retallick, a well-known blacksmith and ironmonger. Retallick held a prominent position in the city; he was responsible for much of the ironwork in the present State House and the Old Treasury Building, as well as ironwork for the Maryland Naval Militia. Retallick’s smithy was situated on his Green Street property. The 1798 Federal Direct Tax list describes the shop as a 28 X 38 ft frame building and the house as a single story frame dwelling 28 X 28 ft.

Retallick died in 1799 and his son Simon, Jr. carried on his father’s business at least until 1802. That same year Simon Sr's. only daughter, Elizabeth, married Captain William Rawlings. In 1820, Rawlings and Elizabeth purchased the title to the property from Nicholas Carroll’s daughter, Ann, and her husband. According to the 1837 Will of Elizabeth Rawlings, the property was willed to their daughters, Elizabeth Brewer, wife of James Brewer, and Mary Brewer, wife of Dr. William Brewer. Each sister received a lot and house on Green Street. The records are unclear as to which property was the 183 Green Street address. Presumably the properties were adjacent to each other.

A reference in the 1845 assessment book indicates that for a brief period, Elizabeth Brewer may have operated a small dry goods business from her Green Street Address. The primary 19th century use of this site, with this exception, was domestic.

It appears that by 1888, the Brewers may have fallen on difficult times and the property changed hands to John Geoghan. Geoghan's heirs held the property until 1932 and was sold in 1937 to Dorothy and Nettie M. Strickland. The Historic Annapolis Foundation acquired the structure and lot at 183 Green Street in 1976 as a donation from a Strickland descendant.

The first documented archaeological projects at 18AP37 took place in 1982 and 1983 by Archaeology in Annapolis in the rear yard of the property prior to a restoration of the standing structure. These plans included the construction of a kitchen and bathroom addition to the rear of the structure.

The 1982 excavations consisted of three 5 X 5 ft arbitrarily placed test units and 9 auger tests throughout the rear yard, to sample potential artifact deposits within the yard. The excavations yielded approximately 1,000 artifacts, but no features and few artifacts that would suggest the presence of a busy ironsmith operation were encountered.

The 1983 work consisted of the excavation of three 15 x 5 ft units and one 2.5 X 5 ft unit interspaced along the proposed alignments for the footings of the addition. This work yielded over 5,000 artifacts but did not expose many artifacts related to an ironsmith operation. One feature consisted of a brick platform of pavers one course thick, believed to be associated with an outbuilding present on the 1891 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Generally, the excavated units consisted of several strata of mixed 18th, 19th, and 20th century artifacts overlaying an original surface containing artifacts dating from the late 18th century. No ceramics indicative of an earlier occupation date, were found, thereby calling into question the mid-18th century house date suggested by documentary and architectural evidence. Based on the rear yard archeological evidence, Adam Reb’s lease date seems the most probable construction date for the extant house.

Additional excavations took place at 18AP37 in 1992 in the front yard of the property. After purchase of the property from the Historic Annapolis Foundation, the Griffis Foundation requested that archaeological work be conducted in the front yard. Three 2.5 x 5 ft units were excavated using the original 1982 grid. Two excavation units were placed directly against the structure’s foundation and the third was located just south of the front porch.

Along the south wall of the house, a sealed cellar entrance (original to the house) was encountered, filled with early-mid 19th century fill. Also, a narrow builder’s trench was encountered at the base of the fill episode deposited after the sealing of the cellar door. It was thought that this represented foundation repair work conducted concurrently with the removal of the cellar door.

The most recent archaeological project occurred in 1998. Twelve shovel test pits and one 5 by 5 ft test unit were excavated. Eight STPs were excavated along the north and west perimeter for the porch and two shovel tests tested an area for the shed, and 2 shovel tests tested an area which would be disturbed by the utility line from the kitchen to the shed. Deep deposits of artifact-bearing soil were encountered in two of the tests along the north porch perimeter, necessitating the excavation of the formal test unit. Within the test unit, one feature was encountered that may be a privy filled in the mid-late 19th century (1840-1870). After partial excavation (25% of the feature), the decision was made to terminate digging and preserve it in place.

Several season of work at 18AP37 demonstrate that the site is intact, with intact features and is capable of addressing research questions related to 19th-century lifeways and potential 18th-century culture in Annapolis.

(Written by Patricia Samford)

(Edited from the Maryland Historical Trust Synthesis Project by Patricia Samford)