Reed-Stitely House Property (18FR735)

The Reed-Stitely House Site (18FR735) is located within the Catoctin Furnace Historic District, south of the town of Thurmont in Frederick County, MD. The Reed-Stitely House (standing structure) is a contributing element of the National Register eligible Catoctin Furnace Historic District. It is situated on a 1.35 acre property where surface soils are comprised of well-drained Edgemont–Chandler channery loams and moderately well-drained Augusta very stony loam. The standing house is a 2 ½ story structure consisting of a ca. 1840-1860 log main block with a smaller frame kitchen ell. The building is covered with wooden clapboards and has a metal roof. A frame addition was probably constructed ca. 1920-1930. An earlier spring house appears to have been replaced on its foundation during the same period. The property also includes the ruins of a summer kitchen/wash house, a privy and a shed probably constructed during the 1920’s. A detached garage north of the house dates to ca. 1925-1940. The house was part of the Catoctin Furnace company town from the time of its construction until 1923 when the company ceased to exist. The former company property was subdivided in 1923 and lots that were in the company town have been individually owned since that time.

Phase Ib survey for a previous project included portions of the Reed-Stitely House property. This work was undertaken prior to improvements to two existing ditches which were insufficiently draining an associated road surface. The survey included the excavation of two shovel tests within the boundaries of Site 18FR735. These shovel tests, along with a single shovel test on the adjoining property to the north produced a low density of mid 19th and early 20th century artifacts. The resource was designated with Maryland isolated finds number 18FRX60.

In 1997, Phase II archeological testing (as well as architectural assessment) was performed at the site. The investigations were designed to aid the Maryland State Highway Administration in determining what effects proposed demolition of the standing structure would have on the site’s archeological deposits and the National Register eligible Catoctin Furnace Historic District. The reasons behind the proposed demolition are not discussed in the full site report. Basic construction details/sequences revealed during the architectural investigation at the site are described above.

Background research established an historical context within which the results of the archeological assessment could be interpreted. This research included a review of the Catoctin Iron Furnace complex and vicinity, as well as a review of previous research at other ironworks and early company towns. The ReedStitely House was used as worker’s housing in the company town associated with Catoctin Iron Works. The ironworks, established in 1774, was one of the earliest iron industrial sites in inland Maryland. During its operation from 1774 to 1903, the iron works at Catoctin produced a variety of products including hollow ware, 10-plate stoves, shells for the military, plates for warships, and pig iron. It was originally owned by Thomas Johnson and his brothers James, Baker, and Roger, who formed James Johnson and Company. The entire furnace complex in 1777 consisted of a 32-foot-high stack, a mill pond, races and waterwheel, a coal house, a bridge and bridgehouse, a cast house, homes for workmen, a company store, barns and stables for furnace stock, and a home for the ironmaster. The Catoctin Furnace properties underwent some improvements and several changes in ownership between the period of initial production and the mid 19th century, when major industrial improvements began to be made.

In 1843, Catoctin Furnace was sold to Peregrine Fitzhugh for $20,315. To stay competitive in the burgeoning local iron industry, Fitzhugh modernized the complex by constructing “Isabella”, a new steam-operated hot-blast charcoal furnace. He also constructed a mule-powered narrow gauge railroad to transport the iron ore from the ore banks to the furnace. Suffering from financial difficulties despite or because of his attempt to update the facility, Fitzhugh sold a half interest in the furnace to Jacob M. Kunkle in 1865 for $35,000. Within a year and a half the furnace was sold to Kunkle’s father, John B. Kunkle Sr. for $51,000, with sons Jacob and John B., Jr. managing the complex. Following John Sr. death in 1866, the furnace was left to both brothers as tenants-incommon. In 1867, Jacob sold his half of the business to his brother. During John B. Kunkle Jr.’s tenure, Catoctin Furnace experienced a period of great prosperity and development. The furnace was more productive at this time that at any other time in its history. Under Kunkle’s management the furnace was casting only pig iron, which was being converted into sheet steel and railroad car wheels. Kunkle also developed a procedure for the elimination of phosphorous from pig iron using limestone, which he patented. In 1873, a third stack was added. “Deborah” was a steam-operated hot-blast anthracite-coke furnace. Tax rolls from 1876 show that Kunkle had an industrial empire consisting of 10,000 acres of mountainland valued at $30,000 with $40,500 worth of improvements including the Manor House, three furnaces, warehouses, shops, storehouses, 30 ore carts, two steam engines, and 50 tenant houses. It is likely that the Reed-Stitely house was constructed at some point during this period of expansion. The furnaces at Catoctin continued to fire (despite several changes in management) until 1903. In 1906, the property was purchased by Pennsylvania industrialist Joseph E. Thropp. Instead of operating the furnace, Thropp, who retained many of the workers, mined the ore banks until 1923, transporting iron ore to his Pennsylvania furnace for production. Thropp sold the furnace property to partners Lancelot Jacques, Sr. and Stanley E. Hauver for $15,500 who in turn parceled off the company town lots for sale at a profit. Many of the furnace families purchased their houses for prices that ranged from $250 to $600. In 1923, Samuel Reed and his wife Julia purchased the company house in which they were living (one of the largest in the company town) for $600. The deed stipulates that the spring on the property remain open to public use. Most of the outbuildings represent changes and alterations to the property when it changed from company to private ownership in 1923.

Phase II archeological testing began with walkover reconnaissance and 10 m interval shovel testing to delineate site boundaries and artifact concentrations. Non-systematic shovel tests at intervals from 1 m to 7 m and excavation units were then used to locate and investigate features and artifact deposits within the project area. A total of 69 shovel tests and six 1 X 1 m test units were excavated in the course of the Phase II assessment. Investigations identified intact subsurface features including a log structure of unknown function, a builder's trench, a pipe trench and iron water pipe, and a post hole and mold near the northeast corner of the house. Most intriguing among these is the log structure which consisted of long log rail “runners” with perpendicular log braces nailed to them at regular intervals. It may have function as some form of sluiceway, track, or foundation support (or possibly part of the 19th century narrow-gauge railway?). The wooden structure was persevered by waterlogged soils in this portion of the site. Excavation also revealed original ground surfaces buried by historic and modern fills. Testing recovered a variety of domestic, architectural, and personal artifacts associated with the property's company town occupation from the mid 19th century to 1923. No intact deposits were identified related to the period following the furnace’s closure.

Artifacts recovered during Phase II work include 47 activity items, 1088 architectural items, 31 clothing-related objects, 1 furniture item, 2022 kitchen objects, 12 personal items, 12 tobacco pipe pieces, 11 arms-related items, and 163 miscellaneous objects. The activity-related items were 5 toys (a clay marble and 4 glass marbles), 6 lighting objects (4 pieces of lantern globe, a lantern wick holder, and a light bulb base), a clothespin spring, 16 pieces of hardware (2 screws, 2 bolts, 6 washers, 3 fence staples, 2 rivets, and 1 iron clip), 12 fragments of non-electrical wire, a spark plug, 5 railroad spikes, and 1 horseshoe. The architectural assemblage consists of 382 fragments of window glass, 602 nails (247 cut, 159 wire, 196 unidentifiable), a lightning rod, a faucet or drain fixture, 2 ceramic electrical insulators, 91 brick pieces, and 9 fragments of mortar. Clothing items include 9 buttons (1 copper button, 1 porcelain, 4 glass, 1 shell, 1 hard rubber, & 1 other), 19 fragments of shoe leather, 2 shoe eyelets, and a needle. The only furniture item was a Queen Anne style drawer pull. The kitchen assemblage is quite large and includes some 1,313 ceramic sherds. The ceramic sherd assemblage includes 3 creamware, 17 pearlware, 644 whiteware, 149 ironstone, 2 semi-porcelain, 29 porcelain, 12 yelloware, 423 redware, 13 salt glazed stoneware, 17 Albany stoneware, 1 Cobalt Blue, 1 modern cobalt glazed sherd, and 2 unidentified sherds. Kitchen glass includes 527 bottle/container glass fragments, 19 tableware glass pieces, 53 curved glass shards, and 6 mason jar lid liner pieces. The remaining kitchen-related items were 15 can fragments, a metal screw top, a wooden cutlery handle, 63 bone/tooth fragments, and 24 pieces of shell. Personal items recovered from the site include a 1945 penny, a pocket knife, a squeeze tube, a key/key ring, 2 combs, 3 porcelain figurine pieces, and 3 glass beads. Tobacco-related items were 8 ball clay stems fragments and 4 ball clay bowls. The 11 arms-related items were all bullets. Miscellaneous items recovered include 2 unidentified pieces of glass, 5 iron rods, 5 pieces of iron sheet, 1 piece of steel sheet, 1 piece of copper sheet, 1 piece of lead sheet, 113 unidentified metal fragments (mostly iron), 12 plastic fragments, 10 pieces of rubber, 3 styrofoam fragments, and 10 piece of slag.

Excavations at 18FR735 reveal a site that is significant and has potential to yield specific information concerning life in the iron furnace company town and general information concerning typical company housing sites of the period. The preservation of archeological remains (particularly wood and leather items) is excellent, given the water-logged and buried nature of the stratigraphic contexts.

(Edited from the Maryland Historical Trust Synthesis Project)