Lisbon Hotel Site (18HO298)

The Lisbon Hotel site is an early- to mid-19th century hotel or tavern and late-19th through early-20th century domestic site. Excavations at the Lisbon Hotel, in combination with the known history of the site and town, help to illustrate both how the building functioned in the context of the development of the National Road and the experience of guests of the hotel, specifically in the first half of the 19th century.

Caleb Pancoast constructed the first building at the Lisbon Hotel site, represented by the cellar remains recorded during the archaeological work, around 1805. Pancoast also had the foresight to lay out the original parcels in the town of Lisbon, taking advantage of its location at the intersection of Woodbine Road (now Madison Street), and the recently constructed Fredericktown Turnpike. Pancoast's decision to construct his home along Woodbine Road, a relatively major north-south artery, would have allowed him relatively easy access to Old Frederick Road, the earlier east-west precursor of the Fredericktown Turnpike that connected Baltimore to Frederick. As these transportation networks grew, specifically the Fredericktown Turnpike, Pancoast added on to his original building, constructing what is now known as the Lisbon Hotel around 1815 (Worthington and Seiter 2018a:2).

Taverns, inns, and hotels were some of the most common roadside services located along the National Road in the 19th century. While Pancoast constructed his original home along a different transportation corridor in a more rural setting, the National Road quickly developed near his house, likely due to nearby amenities, such as pasture land and springs. Pancoast quickly took advantage of this new transportation corridor by laying out town lots and adding on to his house, setting the stage for the development of Lisbon. Pancoast relied on town development and land speculation throughout his life having earlier helped to develop New Market in Frederick County.

Although the lot on which the Lisbon Hotel is situated is relatively small, it may have had room at the rear for a small barn or pasture to serve travelers and their livestock, but extensive modern disturbance and a lack of testing in that area makes the use difficult to determine. The building itself served, and continues to serve, as an important landmark within Lisbon even as it shifted from a hotel to a store in the late-19th century, with the decline of traffic on the National Road.

Based on its location along the National Road, it is certain the Lisbon Hotel catered to a variety of travelers, particularly those carrying goods and driving animals. In fact, this hotel was referred to as the "Drover's Inn," (Ewing 1972: 1). An interesting architectural aspect of the hotel is the entrance to the second story in the rear of the building, causing the second story to be inaccessible from the interior of the building during most of the 19th century. Since many of the drovers were African American, it is possible their access was in a discrete and separate area of the building. The primary means of accessing the second story of the Lisbon Hotel consists of a stairway located within the northern hallway addition of the building. While currently enclosed and accessible from the interior of the Lisbon Hotel, this stairway may have been located on, or only accessible from, the exterior of the building in the early-19th century.

Archaeological testing at the Lisbon Hotel site was conducted in 2018 by Dovetail CRG. A total of 61 shovel test pits and five test units (three of the tests were 5 x 5 feet, and two were 5 x 2.5 feet) were excavated at the site. STPs were at approximate 5 foot intervals. While there was some variation across the site, stratigraphy as observed in the test units consisted of three primary strata that extended to a depth of approximately 1.9 ft. The uppermost stratum was topsoil; Stratum II appeared to be redeposited subsoil, likely from grading and/or historic building construction on the lot (approximately 0.3 ft. thick). Stratum III was a probable intact historic yard surface approximately 0.5 ft. thick.

Thirteen features were identified at the Lisbon Hotel site. Eight of the features were small post holes that were likely either related to building construction or yard activities, such as gardening. The other features included stone foundation remnants, refuse deposits, and a refuse-filled trench or ditch. Three of the features (1, 2, and 9) were encountered on the current ground surface and contained stone foundation remnants.

(Modified from state site form by Patricia Samford)