Baltimore Metro Shot Tower Subway Station Project (18BC66)

An intensive archaeological investigation was undertaken in 1988 by the Baltimore Center for Urban Archaeology in advance of the construction of the proposed Shot Tower Metro Station.  This work located the intact remains of numerous 19th-century commercial and residential structures, as well as a late 18th-century privy.  The project report discussed two archaeological sites; one on either side of Jones Falls Expressway.  This summary discusses 18BC66, the archaeological remains found on City Block 1352/1353.  This area of the project was located on the west side of the present-day Jones Falls expressway. The other summary discusses 18BC65, remains uncovered on City Block 1355/1356.

 

History

 

The western side of the Shot Tower station project area (Blocks 1352/1353) was initially reclaimed from Harrison's Marsh (west of Jones Falls) in the 1770s and was developed both commercially and residentially shortly thereafter.  By 1782, the block had been surveyed and laid out in streets with 25 ft wide lots fronting on Baltimore and Swan Streets.  Businesses and residences were established on the block between 1796 and 1810, and a market consisting of three large buildings was constructed down the center of a wide boulevard called Center Market Space (BCUA 1993:7).  During the first half of the 19th century, business were primarily dry goods establishments and groceries.

At 709 E Baltimore Street, located at the corner of Baltimore Street and Center Market Space, Swiss-born Michael Diffenderffer ran a china shop in the early 1800s in one of the three buildings he owned.  He had purchased this property by 1796. Another he rented to Henry Dukehart, who ran a bakery and grocery store at the same time (BCUA 1993:7).

By the mid-19th century, residences were rarely seen on the block and the range of commercial endeavors had become more diverse, including taverns, sail makers, druggists, tobacco dealers, clothing stores and coopers.  These businesses reflected the maritime nature of the area.  In 1851, the Maryland Institute was constructed along the western border of the project area.

By the latter portion of the 19th century, larger manufacturing enterprises and residents who were tenants (boarding houses and hotels) began to be more prominent. The area became seedy and unsavory (Ward 1989b:7).  Blocks 1352/53 were completely destroyed by the 1904 Baltimore fire.

Archaeological Investigation

Two trenches were excavated mechanically in this block.  Trench One uncovered three adjacent structures, each of which was built to the width of its respective lot (25 ft.).  Trench Two was placed in the rear yards of the structures found in Trench One. The archaeological evidence suggested that once the main construction on the block took place in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, only minor additions and improvements were made to the buildings there.  The buildings corresponded to the modern street addresses of 709, 711/713, 715 and 717 East Baltimore Street.

 

The trench through the street front buildings showed that the three buildings (709, 711/713 and 715 East Baltimore Street) had basements, and that the fill in the cellars was related to the 1904 fire and demolition associated with the post-fire clean up. The basement of the main structure contained a sealed deposit of burnt and melted grocery stock associated with the destruction of N. Reiter and  Company Store. Trench Two revealed a number of secondary structures, including a structure with a brick foundation at 717 E. Baltimore Street. In the rear yard of 715 E. Baltimore Street was a foundation of a structure (Feature 5A) that was an extension out into an alley.  This feature was believed to be a possibly privy enclosure, although no pit was revealed inside the structure.

Trench Two also uncovered a 2.5 ft diameter brick-lined privy with a vaulted top (Feature 21 [Feat 12 in Phase II]) that was associated with 709 E. Baltimore Street.  It appears that this privy, already abandoned and forgotten, was encountered during construction of a later building foundation.  Rather than dismantle the privy, the builders chose to incorporate it into the foundation of the building under construction.  Two driven wooden posts adjacent to the privy (Features 13 and 13A Phase II) were felt to form part of the enclosure around the privy.

The top three feet of the privy were excavated in five natural levels. The top level was a sterile cap and levels 2-4 were silty layers with various amounts of artifacts.  Level 5 was intact privy fill that was below the current water level. The fill in the privy suggested that it was capped sometime around 1800 and that the artifacts suggest a household of substantial wealth and social status.

During the Phase II testing, a total of 298 artifacts were obtained from sampling the privy and included 27 ceramic and glass vessels, a number of seeds from melons, cherries, peaches, plums, apples and nuts, faunal bone, pharmaceutical phial, wine bottles, leaded glass stemware, faceted tumblers a worked ivory handled and silver and gold gilt buttons.  Over 35,000 seeds were discovered in the privy, encompassing a wide range of fruits and nuts.

It was not possible to determine exactly who discarded the artifacts into this privy — the lot changed hands many times in the last decade of the 18th century, but appears to have served as a business establishment.  The property was sold to the Diffenderffer family in 1800 and was a china shop.  It is likely that the artifacts in the privy were from the Diffenderffer  family's early tenure at this property, as well as that of Dukehart, the baker and grocer. The large amount of nut and seed remains suggest baking of tarts and pies (BCUA 1993:7).  A number of ceramic vessels were also found. Four generations of the Diffenderffer family owned and operated stores on the block during the first half of the 19th century.  They owned the lot at 709 E. Baltimore Street until 1857.  It was purchased in 1859 by Charles Lewis Dunlap, who ran a grocery store there until 1868, at which time his business changed to a wholesale retailer in flour, tea, wine and groceries.  The building on this lot was a three and half story building.  It appears that the upper stories were used for storage and not as residential space.  Artifacts found that could be associated with the grocery store were pickle or olive containers and olive oil bottles.

Trench 1 uncovered a brick foundation and cellar for a building designated as Structure 3.  This structure is believed to have served as a store/grocery/dry and wet good store from the late 18th century until its destruction by fire in 1904.  The lowest levels of the cellar, which had a paved floor, contained charred foodstuffs associated with Reiter & Co., the grocery store that operated there at the time of the 1904 fire. Charred plant remains included what appeared to have been a bag of rye grain, a container of apples, peas, rice and coffee.  The 1904 fire destroyed buildings on this block and archaeology revealed goods from Reiter's Grocery in the cellar of the destroyed building, including melted medicine bottles and charred seeds (BCUA 1993:80).

Trench 2, excavated on 18BC66 contained the remains of a brick foundation for a structure designated as Structure 7.  This structure appeared to have been a back building, provisionally dated as mid-19th century, to Structure 3. Some charred grocery stock was also found in several layers along the floor of the cellar in this addition to Structure 3 and relate to the 1904 fire.

A total of 925 artifacts were recovered during this excavation.  They are stored with other BCUA collections at the MAC Lab.

A Phase III excavation was conducted either later in 1988 or in 1989 on Structure 3 and its backyard. Large scale stripping was done to expose structural foundations. This stripping was done to the north and south of Trench 1 (Phase II), and to the northern extent of Trench 2. Features discovered in the Phase II testing were re-located, as well as a number of new features found. A matter of potential confusion was created in that the Phase II features were renumbered using new feature numbers in the Phase III project. A spreadsheet that lists the discrepancies has been created and in this summary, only the Phase III feature numbers are used.

The excavations revealed that Structure 3 contained a brick floor, sealed by 1904 fire destruction debris. A bulkhead entrance entered the south wall of Structure 3, leading out into the backyard. This enclosed backyard was apparently shared by three resident families (Diffenderffer, Dukehart and a tenant printer). In the paved backyard (Feature 25) of the structure was a brick feature believed to be an oven (Feature 22), a sloped and paved brick work area (Feature 26), and a 3-brick wide gutter leading south away from the building (Feature 23). The privy (Feature 21) was located south of the building and was completely excavated in this phase of work. Sealed around 1810, this feature contained over a dozen table glass vessels, more than 300 ceramic vessels and over 100,000 seeds from a wide variety of fruits. The fill is believed to be associated with china merchant Diffenderffer and baker Dukehart. During the late 18th to early 19th centuries, a small outbuilding (Feature 17A-D) was built 7 ft south of Structure 3. This building measured 8 ft east-west by over 28 ft north-south.

Changes made to the backyard area in the mid-19th century included removal of the late 18th-century outbuilding, with it being replaced by a 12.5 x 24 ft. building (Feature 13A-C). Two 19th-century privies were also discovered – an oval brick lined privy enclosed within a rectangular brick foundation (Feature 14). It was documented as being in use in 1859 and was apparently cleaned out and filled before it was abandoned. Only one foot of cultural material was present in the feature. Another privy (Feature 24) was only sampled due to time constraints, but it appeared to have been filled in the second quarter of the 19th century. New paving (Feature 9) replaced some of the earlier yard paving.

Massive structural foundations for the Maryland Institute (1907-1969) were also uncovered (Features 4A-4G).

(Written by Patricia Samford)