Ridenour Farm (18WA467)

The Ridenour Farm site, also known as HB-1 (18WA467), was a 19th-century agrarian occupation. It is part of a farm complex that consists of a standing log/brick house, the ruins of a stone bank barn, the ruins of an ice house or spring house, a frame shack, and two stone-lined wells. The archeological component is associated with these structures.

The farm was occupied for nearly 200 years by the Ridenour and Bear families. It was modernized after 1940, resulting in heavy disturbances around the buildings on the north side of the site, but was still thought eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

18WA467 was identified in 1997 by R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates as part of a Phase I survey at the Newgate Industrial Park in Hagerstown. It was followed by Phase II testing, which consisted of 113 shovel test pits and 10 test units. The test units were placed in the southern half of the site, which had the greatest potential archaeological significance.

The Phase II investigation recovered nearly 5,400 artifacts, both domestic and architectural, dating from the late 18th century to the 20th century. Kitchen-related artifacts, such as ceramics and container glass, dominated the assemblage. The small late 18th- to early 19th-century component was largely confined to an area directly east of the house, and likely relates to the Ridenour period of occupation, while the much larger 19th- and early 20th-century component surrounds the farmhouse and is associated with the Bear family period of ownership.

There were several areas with high artifact counts and stratigraphic integrity, notably east of the farmhouse. Cultural features identified during excavation included the foundation of a smokehouse with an associated hearth base; the base of a wooden barrel, including its hoop; a domestic midden feature first identified during the Phase I survey; and a possible postmold.

(Edited from the Maryland Historical Trust Synthesis Project)