Belair Mansion Site (18PR135)

The Belair Mansion site (18PR135) consists of archaeological deposits associated with a standing house at the core of an 18th- through 20th-century plantation in Bowie, Prince George’s County. The 2½ story brick structure was constructed in the 1740s, with wings added in the early 20th century. The mansion is surrounded by terraced gardens, and is currently owned and operated by the City of Bowie as a historic museum and public reception center.

Belair was first given that name by Jacob Henderson in 1721. He sold the property in 1737 to Benjamin Tasker and Samuel Ogle, both royal governors of Maryland. Ogle married Tasker’s daughter Anne in 1742, and they soon left for England, leaving Tasker to supervise the construction of Belair Mansion. The Ogles returned to the colony in 1747 and occupied the new house. Samuel Ogle’s son and heir, Benjamin, acquired the estate in 1774. In 1796, he deeded Belair to his son Benjamin Ogle II, who lived there until his death in 1844. By 1871, Belair no longer belonged to the Ogle family. It passed through a number of owners before being acquired by James Woodward in 1898. Woodward added the hyphens and wings to the mansion. The property stayed in the Woodward family until 1955, when Levitt and Sons, Inc., purchased the estate to build one of their post-WWII suburbs. The mansion served as their offices until they donated it to the City of Bowie in 1964. The City used the building to house governmental offices, the police station, and the Genealogical Society library before it took on its current function.

Archaeology was conducted at the site in 1976 for the City of Bowie Bicentennial Committee. The limited excavation was designed to identify outbuildings known to have existed near the mansion. A total of 21 test units were dug north and south of the house, revealing wall remnants and a drain probably dating to the 18th or 19th centuries, along with a foundations, associated builder’s trenches, and a brick paving. Additional excavations took place sporadically from 1976 to 1984. Information on this work is scarce, but there is documentation of brick drains, walls, floors, and steps being uncovered.

Throughout the 1990s, a number of excavations were carried out at Belair, focusing on the landscape and 20th-century stables. In 1990, a backhoe exposed brick walls, an arched stairway leading to a house entrance, and a succession of drains. In 1994, a Phase I survey was conducted on the west lawn, and a limited Phase II investigation was done at the existing parking area and driveway, as well as on the terraced lawns on the south side of the mansion. A total of 18 shovel test pits and three test units were excavated in the parking area, revealing the foundations of two structures. A small post hole was also found nearby. Twenty-five shovel test pits and two test units were excavated in the west lawn, exposing two foundations and intact deposits dating to the 19th century (and possibly earlier). Twenty-nine shovel test pits and two test units were excavated through the terraced lawns. No features were discovered, and the results suggested that the terraces had been reconstructed, if not wholly created, within the last 50 to 100 years. Among the artifacts found in 1994 was a “B. Ogle” bottle seal.

A feature was uncovered during parking lot construction later in 1994. Four test units were opened to explore it. They revealed an 18th-century brick rubble layer, two pits, and a structural posthole, possibly from an earthfast structure. Phase III data recovery commenced immediately. Seven additional test units were opened. Approximately 55 features and five broad strata were identified. Activity was most intense in the area from the second half of the 18th century to the early 19th century, after which it may have been used as a garden. Most of the features were postholes, some of which form a fence line. Two linear brick features may represent exedrae in which people sat, protected from the elements, and enjoyed the garden.

(Edited from the Maryland Historical Trust Synthesis Project)