Visitation Academy (18FR1101)

Area 1

The site consists of the enclosed Visitation Academy property (approximately 3.01 acres) at 200 East 2nd Street in downtown Frederick. The site includes the Academy buildings, ornamental gardens, a basketball court, paved and graveled walkways and drives and a small cemetery. The site is being developed as a boutique hotel and the archaeological project was conducted in advance of this development.

The site first was developed as an educational institution in 1824, when the Sisters of Charity established a school for girls in a log structure. Within 2 years, it was replaced by a two-story brick structure that is still used by the Academy. Additional lots were added to the initial landholding between 1824 and 1847, when the Sisters of Charity were replaced by the Visitation Sisters. The Visitation Sisters were a cloistered order, and during their early tenure, the walls were built around the Academy. Additional lots were added in 1847, 1850, and 1864, bringing the site to its current size. The 1858 Bond map indicates that prior to the 1864 land acquisition, several of the lots added to the compound included townhouses and other structures. Those apparently were razed or in one case, were incorporated into the existing buildings of the Academy.

A small cemetery with approximately 100 burials of Visitation Sisters is present on the grounds, but is protected by a deed easement. Sanborn maps from the latter part of the 19th century indicate the presence of a large garden and orchard, as well as landscaped paths. Other records suggested that the Sisters had cattle (likely for milk), and probably raised poultry. In addition to its use as a boarding school and convent, the site also was used in 1862 as a hospital for Union troops.

The site, then, dates from 1824 through the twentieth century, and incorporates components associated with the boarding school and convent, as well as with the domestic properties that were subsumed by the Academy as it grew. Phase I archaeological testing conducted in March 2019 included systematic and judgmentally-placed shovel tests within accessible areas of the compound. The testing resulted in the recovery of 1,189 historic, primarily domestic and architectural artifacts, dating from the late 18th through the first half of the 19th centuries. There was very little recovered that represented the latter half of the 19th century or the 20th century, suggesting that most of the cultural material were derived from the occupants of the lots that were later incorporated into the Academy property – rather than from the occupants of the Academy itself. Architectural materials (bricks, window glass) recovered also were likely to have derived from the razing and removal of the townhouses that had been present on the lots that were added to the Academy in 1864.

Phase II testing in Area I was conducted by R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc. in August of 2019. Area I consisted of an area that included a basketball court and a grassy field. Six trenches were mechanically excavated to assess stratigraphy and identify cultural features. Ten historic cultural features were identified during this trenching. The features included four post holes (Feature 03-01, 03-02, 03-03, and 03-04), a pig burial (Feature 03-05), two very shallow, linear rubble-filled trenches (Features 04-02 and 04-03), a small rubble-filled pit (Feature 05-01), a planting hole (Feature 05-02), and a shallow square stain (Feature 06-01) that may have been a posthole or planting hole.

Typical stratigraphy in Area 1, as revealed by Phase I testing: This area had incorporated townhouse lots as early as the late 18th century and 1st half of 19th century, and after 1864, the structures were removed and it was used for a large garden and orchard to support the Academy. A typical shovel test this area exhibited three strata. Stratum I was mostly dark brown (10YR 3/3) silty loam with variable amounts of coal, slag, and brick bits intermixed and extending to 30 cmbs. Stratum II was a dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam with occasional brick, coal, and slag bits intermixed. Stratum II extended from 30 to 46 cmbs. Subsoil (Stratum III) was described as yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay loam.

Area 2

The site consists of the enclosed Visitation Academy property (approximately 3.01 acres) at 200 East 2nd Street in downtown Frederick. The site includes the Academy buildings, ornamental gardens, a basketball court, paved and graveled walkways and drives and a small cemetery.

The site first was developed as an educational institution in 1824, when the Sisters of Charity established a school for girls in a log structure. Within 2 years, it was replaced by a two-story brick structure that is still used by the Academy. Additional lots were added to the initial landholding between 1824 and 1847, when the Sisters of Charity were replaced by the Visitation Sisters. The Visitation Sisters were a cloistered order, and during their early tenure, the walls were built around the Academy. Additional lots were added in 1847, 1850, and 1864, bringing the site to its current size. The 1858 Bond map indicates that prior to the 1864 land acquisition, several of the lots added to the compound included townhouses and other structures. Those apparently were razed or in one case, were incorporated into the existing buildings of the Academy.

A small cemetery with approximately 100 burials of Visitation Sisters is present on the grounds, but is protected by a deed easement. Sanborn maps from the latter part of the 19th century indicate the presence of a large garden and orchard, as well as landscaped paths. Other records suggested that the Sisters had cattle (likely for milk), and probably raised poultry. In addition to its use as a boarding school and convent, the site also was used in 1862 as a hospital for Union troops. Troops occupied the majority of the buildings at the Academy, and the boarders and Sisters moved into the convent, where classes also were held.

The site, then, dates from 1824 through the twentieth century, and incorporates components associated with the boarding school and convent, as well as with the domestic properties that were subsumed by the Academy as it grew. Archaeological testing conducted in March 2019 included systematic and judgmentally-placed shovel tests within accessible areas of the compound. The testing resulted in the recovery of 1,189 historic period primarily domestic and architectural artifacts dating from the late 18th through the first half of the 19th centuries. There was very little recovered that represented the latter half of the 19th century or the 20th century, suggesting that most of the cultural material derived from the occupants of the lots that were later incorporated into the Academy property – rather than from the occupants of the Academy itself. Architectural materials (bricks, window glass, recovered also were likely to have derived from the razing and removal of the townhouses that had been present on the lots that were added to the Academy in 1864.

Area 2 (the central courtyard) was characterized by formal graveled walkways that had been present for at least 100 years, shown on the 1897 Sanborn map. Areas between walkways were grass-covered. The 1858 Bond map shows an outbuilding in the east/central part of the area; it would have been present prior to the acquisition of the lot by the Academy.

Phase II testing of Area 2 was conducted in May of 2019 by archaeologists working with R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates . Six trenches were mechanically excavated in order to assess the stratigraphy and depositional integrity in areas of possible features discovered during the Phase I testing. Two trenches (Trenches 1 and 2) were placed in an area believed to have once contained an outbuilding depicted on the 1858 Bond map. Trench 3 was positioned in an area that was suggested in an 1841 deed to contain a well or a water pump. Trench 6 was positioned to cross a gravel walkway and Trenches 4 and 5 were placed at the southern end of Area 2 to insure coverage of the entire area.

Nine historic period features were uncovered by the trenching – three planting holes, a posthole, a well, two stone and gravel filled ditches that were probably former wall locations of outbuildings shown on the 1858 Bond map, and two gravel walkway features. The features contained very few artifacts and appeared to date primarily prior to the 1860s. Very little of the artifacts recovered from the site were from intact depositional contexts.

A typical shovel test had an upper stratum of dark brown (10YR 3/3) silty loam with bits of brick, charcoal, coal, slag and gravel intermixed. Stratum I extended to 15 cmbs. Stratum II was described as brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam and extended to 30 cmbs. The underlying Stratum III was identified as subsoil and described as yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay loam. Shovel tests within the graveled walkways exhibited compacted sub-base/fill deposits to support the graveled walkways.

(Written by Patricia Samford)