Glenn Little’s 1967-68 Excavation of the William Paca Garden
In light of the discoveries made during the Powell excavations in 1966, Historic Annapolis, Inc., decided additional archaeological testing would reveal more information regarding the 18th century design of the garden. While the Powell excavations were able to identify the 18th century surface of the garden, his testing area was too small to make an accurate analysis of the exact topography during William Paca’s occupation of the site.
Glenn Little, of Contract Archaeology Inc. (C.A.I.), was hired to conduct a more thorough excavation of the garden property. By the time Glenn Little was hired in 1967, the demolition of Carvel Hall had been completed allowing excavations to be conducted over the entire surface of the garden, an opportunity unavailable to Bruce Powell.
Glenn Little’s excavations were conducted in two field seasons over a one-year period from 1967 to 1968. The first phase of Little’s excavations began on March 30, 1967 and continued until December 1, 1967. The second phase of testing picked up the following year on August 1st concluded by the end of September 1968.
The 1967 Excavations
Little began excavating the William Paca Garden on March 30, 1967. Using information from the Bruce Powell excavation a year earlier, Little placed a series of 19 trenches along the west, north, and eastern sides of the garden. The core drillings were also done through the rest of the garden area in order to reveal any information related to the 18th - century surface of the garden. The core drillings and trench excavations revealed that an enormous amount of fill and rubble covered much of the historic garden surface. The testing also showed, aside from some isolated areas along the east and west sides of the garden, very little of the northern half of the historic garden surface had been disturbed by 19th or 20th century construction on the site. As for the southern half of the garden, Little found the soils in that area to have been too heavily disturbed by the construction of Carvel Hall to produce any meaningful information.
Based on analysis of the core drillings, Little was able to produce a contour map identifying the original grade of the William Paca Garden (Little, March 1967). Glenn Little suggests the 18th - century surface was designed as a terraced garden sloping in a south- north direction from the William Paca House toward King George Street. Additional evidence of the terraced garden was also found during the excavation of trenches along the east and west sides of the garden area were evidence of original walls were unearthed.
During the excavation of trenches 7, 14, 24, 30, 34, and 49, evidence of an artificial brick stream was found within the 18th century surface of the historic garden. Located fifteen feet from the base of the third fall, the stream runs in an eastward direction to a distance of 25 feet from the east wall (Little, November 1967).
Remains of a structure was unearthed during the excavation of the artificial brick stream in trench 49. While excavating the brick stream, Little uncovered the foundations of a structure in the northeast corner of the garden. Excavation of trench 49 did reveal an underground drain running through the excavated portions of the foundation. According to a letter written by Glenn Little on December 5, 1967, a drainage system for the garden was being installed during the excavation of the bathhouse foundation. As a result, Little was unable to fully excavate the structure in the time allotted to him. The canal measured about 2 feet wide and 10 feet long. It extended in an west-east direction with the eastern portion of the drain veering to the southeast toward the artificial brick stream. Little concluded that the foundations and canal could be the remains of the bathhouse mentioned in the site’s historical documentation.
The 1968 Excavations
On August 1, 1968, Glenn Little and Contract Archaeology Inc. began the second phase of archaeological testing at the William Paca Garden. A series of 22 trenches were placed throughout the lower garden area beginning at the third fall and extending to the north garden wall along King George Street. The purpose of the excavation was to conduct additional analysis of the drain features identified during the 1967 excavation as well as to attempt to determine the historic locations of the pavilion and springhouse.
Through the course of the 1967 excavation a series of underground square brick pipes were found running in a west to east direction along the base of the fourth fall. Although during the pervious excavation Little was unable to unearth the full extent of the drains, he believed they may have originated somewhere along the northwest side of the garden. Little also believed the springhouse and bathhouse were located on opposite sides of the garden. The excavation of trench 49 revealed the remains of a foundation in the northeast corner of the garden. Little placed two trenches, T57 and T58, in the northwest garden area with the hope of uncovering the remains of Paca’s garden springhouse.
Excavation of trench 57 revealed the foundations of a nine-foot square structure with the north wall of the structure measuring roughly 33 feet from the north garden wall. The structure consisted of a base of mortared fieldstones just below the 1780 surface level of the garden. According to Little, the fieldstones were large, creating a massive foundation for the structure (Little 1990). The stones measured roughly from .5 to 1.5 feet wide and were cut nearly three feet into the subsoil creating a firm base for the structure.
Little concluded the structure found in trench 57 was indeed William Paca’s garden springhouse. Additionally, Little deduced how the springhouse functioned during the Paca Period:
“…water is collected from the springhouse to the northwest and west feeder drain, underneath the collecting box and rises to the top by pressure. The force obviously provided water for the adjacent trough also….the overflow exited through the north (east) brick drain.” (Little 1990).
Two trenches were excavated in and around the fourth terrace and fall, one within the fall and the other placed where Powell located structure 2. Following the examination of structure 2, Little suspected that it might have been the remains of the rear portion of the summerhouse foundation. He further hypothesized that the foundations of the summerhouse may not have been as substantial as that of the bathhouse or springhouse. While both the springhouse and bathhouse were constructed entirely of stone and brick, it is possible that only brickwork was used in the construction of the summerhouse floor. The remainder of the structure may have consisted of wood with plaster walls, and may have been more susceptible to deterioration.
During
the excavations along the north wall, Little found that a gate opening was cut
through the wall directly behind structure 2.
A late 19th - century photograph of the garden
taken from the State House dome further supports the existence of the gate.
Given that a gate may have existed in the north garden wall directly
behind the summerhouse, the summerhouse would have prevented clear direct access
in and out of the garden for pedestrians and wagons. Little further believed
constant foot and cart traffic coming in and out of the gate must have destroyed
most of the structure’s remaining foundations (Eareckson 1977).
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