King's Reach Quarter(18CV84)

The King’s Reach Quarter Site (18CV84) consists of two earthfast structures and a fence line associated with the Richard Smith, Jr. Plantation, now part of the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum (JPPM) in Calvert County, Maryland. King’s Reach Quarter is part of a complex of sites, including 18CV83 and 18CV85, which formed the core of the Smith plantation in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The structures at 18CV84 are located several hundred feet inland from the main homelot, 18CV83, and possibly represent a second outlying quarter and an associated outbuilding. A large tobacco house (18CV85) was situated several hundred feet from King’s Reach Quarter.

King’s Reach Quarter was first identified during a surface collection in 1981 and additional surface collections were made in 1987 to define artifact concentrations and the site’s relationship to 18CV83. Between 1996 and 1999, excavations were conducted at King’s Reach Quarter to further understand the relationship between the multiple buildings of the Smith plantation complex. Testing consisted of a systematic, intensive surface collection and 132 shovel test pits and 54 test units.

Excavations revealed an unusual, trench-set post building measuring approximately 20 by 40 feet. Wooden posts, ranging between three and six inches in diameter, were set into the trench approximately two-and-a-quarter-feet apart. Several excavated posts reveal that the trench was deeper than the posts. As no daub or unfired clay was recovered, this building was probably clapboarded. The concentration of structural and domestic remains, the lack of a hearth, and its central location to surrounding agricultural fields suggests that this building possibly served as a servant’s or slaves’ quarters or less likely, as an agricultural building. A single posthole for a second structure was uncovered, but the function of this building and its size are unknown. A fence line ran between the two buildings, in the general direction of the main house at King’s Reach. A large number of artifacts suggest the location of a refuse midden between the two structures.

Archaeological investigations at King’s Reach Quarter recovered 191,683 artifacts, which includes 185,590 oyster shell fragments. This site appears to have been occupied at the same time as 18CV83, but its assemblage contains a greater percentage of utilitarian artifacts and less diversity in artifact types. Unlike the adjacent 18CV83, there were few artifacts at 18CV84 that reflected wealth, supporting the idea that this was a quarter for servants or slaves.

Recovered ceramics included Border ware, tin-glazed earthenware, Rhenish blue and gray stoneware, English brown stoneware, and unidentified lead-glazed earthenware. Border ware sherds exhibited both clear and green lead glazes on interior surfaces, and Red Border ware was also recovered. King’s Reach Quarter yielded only 40 tin-glazed earthenware sherds, substantially less than 18CV83. No marked tobacco pipe fragments were recovered. Glass artifacts included numerous wine and case bottle fragments, five table glass fragments, three glass beads, and one "WC" bottle seal. The majority of metal artifacts were iron nails, but seven lead shot and one unidentified copper alloy hardware piece were also recovered.

In addition, the presence of Native American ceramics and lithic artifacts confirms a small Woodland component at this site. Most lithic objects were manufactured from quartz, quartzite, rhyolite, chert, and sandstone, and include two Calvert and one Potomac projectile points, four unidentified projectile points, four bifaces, one hammerstone, 613 pieces of debitage, and 241 fire-cracked rocks. Identified ceramic types include Potomac Creek and Townsend Series wares.

(Edited from Archaeological Collections in Maryland)