Poplar Springs Site (18HO299)

The Poplar Springs site is a possible 19th-century commercial building; the use is currently unknown, but it may have been a store or inn. The artifact assemblage contains a large number of ceramics dating from the late 18th to the mid-19th centuries. The stone foundation uncovered at the site does not appear on any known historic maps of the area and is located slightly to the west and north of most of the historic development associated with the Poplar Springs community. According to the 1860 Martenet Map, the majority of the buildings associated with the community of Poplar Springs were concentrated just to the east of the site, as well as on the south side of Frederick Road.

Artifacts recovered from the site provide hints for the dates and use of this building. The discovery of creamware and other artifacts suggest that the building was in use by ca. 1820 and was occupied through at least the next three decades. Relatively equal proportions of pearlware and whiteware suggest domestic use of the site prior to the Civil War. The abandonment and eventual demise of the building may coincide with the sale of the property out of the Selby family in 1908. A 1937 aerial photograph shows the site as a ruin.

Based on the artifact assemblage, the site experienced the heaviest occupation during the ownership of the Dorsey family. The building was likely constructed around 1820, during peak use of the National Road and was occupied at least until it sold in the late 1850s. Allen Dorsey Sr. was a prominent member of the community that ran an inn at Poplar Springs and served as the superintendent of the Maryland division of the Baltimore Frederick Turnpike. In addition to the inn, Dorsey was also known to have maintained a wagon stand near the site and probably had several other outbuildings to support the inn and its patrons (Morse and Green 1977:26). As superintendent of the turnpike, Dorsey clearly understood the importance of the road to commerce and how to best take advantage of the opportunities provided by the traffic along the National Road.

When Dorsey Sr. constructed the building at the Poplar Springs site, he chose an elevated parcel adjacent to springs. The 1860 Martenet map suggests that Dorsey had a building on the south side of the Road and that a store and hotel owned by the England family was located adjacent to the extant mile marker. Dorsey closed his inn around 1842, only about a decade after the National Road began to compete with the B&O Railroad and C&O Canal, both of which had been completed in the vicinity of the site around 1831. Although Dorsey's inn went out of business, a need for lodging and supplies still existed. The discrepancy between the Martenet map and Dorsey's ownership of the property on the north side of the National Road may be explained by the fact that the store and hotel attributed to England were part of the earlier Dorsey tavern complex that was being operated by England while the Dorseys lived across the road despite not having yet sold the land on the north side of the road.

Poplar Springs would have been ideally situated to provide necessary services to travelers along the National Road during the 19th century. The parcel on which the site was located is adjacent to freshwater springs, from which the community of Poplar Springs gained its name, potentially providing water for guests, their animals, cleaning, and cooking. West of the site was an ideal area for a meadow or pastureland for draft animals or livestock. Indeed, the Martenet map, the Hopkins map, and the 1937 aerial indicate that this portion of the property was clear of buildings from 1860 until 1937. Finally, and most importantly, all of this was located immediately adjacent to the turnpike and near the intersection with another relatively major north-south oriented road, Watersville Road. While the evidence that this building functioned as either the hotel or the store identified in the 1860 Martenet map is not conclusive, the location and placement of the building is suggestive.

Remote sensing at the site took place prior to archaeological excavation and helped guide placement of the units. Archaeological testing at the Poplar Springs site was conducted in 2018 by Dovetail CRG. A total of twelve test units (eleven 5 x 2.5 foot excavation units and one 2.5 x 2.5 foot unit) were excavated. In general, test units extended between 2 and 2.5 ft. below the surface before encountering either sterile subsoil or cultural features. An undisturbed soil profile generally consisted of three strata. The uppermost was a dark brown (10YR 4/6) silt A horizon approximately 1 ft. thick. This A horizon gave way to a transitional stratum consisting of a strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) mottled silty clay, extending to a depth of approximately 2 ft. Below the transitional stratum was a sterile subsoil consisting of a yellowish red (5YR 4/6) silty clay.

Nine features were identified at Poplar Springs. Features 2 and 3 represented the unmortared stone structural foundation for the commercial building, and Features 4, 5 and 8 were the builder’s trench for this structure. The presence of white granite in the builder's trenches suggests a construction date during the second quarter of the 19th century. Three of the features, Features 1, 6, and 9, were modern drainage pipes. The pipe trenches represented by Features 1 and 6 appear to have been related to one another, considering the similarity of their concrete pipes and the gravel fill encountered around them. These two pipes were noted during the geophysical survey as long linear anomalies and were encountered during excavation at a depth of approximately 1.6 ft. below the surface. Feature 9 contained a terracotta drain pipe.

(Modified from state site form by Patricia Samford)