Pleasant Valley Farm site (18TA355)

The Pleasant Valley Farm site, 18TA355, is a 17th and18th-century plantation occupation located near Easton in Talbot County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The site is east of the Miles River on 325 acres of privately-owned farm land dominated by a brick Georgian manor house built ca. 1773.

A succession of owners, tenants, and slaves are known to have occupied the property. While the manor house dates to the late 18th century, the plantation was settled as early as 1669 by Richard Carter, who named it St. Michaels Fresh Run. Carter became wealthy from his farming, a grain milling operation, and merchant trading. After his death in 1708/09, the property was divided three ways among the heirs of his brother. In 1760, Robert Goldsborough purchased the plantation. The existing manor house was built in 1773, when Robert’s son Howes got married. The Goldsboroughs and their heirs prospered on the plantation into the 19th century, but it was sold to Col. William Hughlett in 1829, who eventually re-named it Pleasant Valley. The Hughlett family continued ownership until 1910, when it was purchased by Clinton Henry. There were a number of different owners through the rest of the 20th century.

The site was excavated in 2001 during the Annual Field Session of the Archeological Society of Maryland. This work focused primarily on an area in a field a few hundred meters from the manor house, where a substantial brick foundation and artifacts from the late 17th to mid-18th century had been noted. It was assumed that this was the first or second primary residence on the property. In addition, Archaic and Woodland period prehistoric materials had been found there. This was the main area of excavation in 2001. Much more limited testing was done in the front yard of the extant house, although a larger area was surveyed via ground penetrating radar and magnetometer.

In the main excavation area, the artifacts dated to the 18th century, and uncovered features included a brick-lined cellar and builder’s trenches associated with a manor house, and postholes and a large pit associated with a possible detached kitchen. This portion of the site appears to represent a manor house built in the early 18th century, perhaps by Richard Carter, and then occupied primarily by tenants, servants, and slaves after Carter’s death. The complex seems to have been abandoned and demolished at about the time the extant manor house was completed for Howes Goldsborough, ca. 1773.

By contrast, a mid-17th-century occupation was identified in the limited testing conducted in the front yard of the extant house. Nine anomalies were identified with ground penetrating radar and magnetometry, one of which was exposed through excavation. This revealed two postholes and two pit features, which suggested that this was the location of Richard Carter’s ca. 1669 home.

(Edited from the Maryland Historical Trust Synthesis Project)