Georgetown University

During the late spring and early summer of 2015, archaeologists from St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) undertook a Phase I archaeological survey of selected portions of Newtowne Neck State Park. Newtowne Neck State Park, acquired by the State of Maryland in 2009, was once part of Newtown Manor, a plantation owned by the Society of Jesus (or the Jesuits) since 1668. The plantation included a relatively large enslaved population, the members of which were sold in 1838 to planters in Louisiana in order to support Georgetown College (now Georgetown University).
The Jesuits acquired the land from William Bretton, who, along with his wife, had previously donated land for a church. The Brettons, both Catholic, had acquired the property in 1640. Before then, and for centuries, the property had been home to Native Americans. The property’s history has long been a focus of interest, with archaeological investigations beginning in the early 20th century.

The purpose of the 2015 archaeological survey was to identify archaeological sites in areas where park development is planned, including in the vicinity of the Russell house and Lacey house complexes. As part of that effort, detailed background research was conducted, including an analysis of previous archaeological investigations on the property. This information along with the results of the 2015 archaeological survey were synthesized in an effort to define interpretive linkages as well as planning information for the Maryland Department of Natural Resource’s Maryland Park Service, the state agency which manages the park.

For the archaeological survey, a program of shovel testing at systematically spaced intervals of 25 and 50 feet, covering an area of approximately 68 acres, was chosen. The work was undertaken by students in the Introduction to Archaeological Survey field school at SMCM. A total of 2,106 shovel tests were excavated over a period of eight weeks, generating more than 42,000 artifacts. These materials came from three archaeological sites, including two previously documented sites and one newly identified site.

The earliest site, 18ST169, is a small Native American shell midden dating perhaps as early as 200 CE and as late as Contact with Europeans. The site may have functioned primarily as an oyster collecting spot rather than as a residential site. 18ST169 is located west of the Russell house complex on St. Clement’s Bay.

18ST451, which includes the Russell house complex, is a multi-component site with both pre-Contact Native occupation and post-Contact occupation from the early to mid-18th century through the 20th century. The earlier historic-period sites are almost certainly the locations of slave quarters, scattered around a small, unnamed creek or inlet off St. Clement’s Bay. Sometime in the mid-19th century, possibly following the sale of the labor force south, occupation constricted to a single locus, probably by tenants of the Jesuits. Archaeological evidence indicates that the head of the unnamed creek in this area was filled in, probably in the 1970s before the standing brick ranch house was built. Both modern and historic-period features were identified at the site.

The newly discovered site, 18ST891, is also a multi-component site and is located at the Lacey house complex. 18ST891 is a small site repeatedly visited by Native Americans beginning as early as 900 BCE through the Late Woodland (900-1600 CE) period. The site was also occupied from the mid-18th century through c. 1800, probably serving as one or more quarters for enslaved households. Finally, 18ST891 was occupied again in the mid- to late 19th century through the 20th century by tenant families.

All three sites are potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D for their potential to yield information important in prehistory and history.

Interpretive possibilities for Newtowne Neck State Park include Native history, Jesuit history, the history of slavery, and the relationship between natural and cultural history. The Maryland Park Service has the opportunity to connect with other initiatives, including the Through Piscataway Eyes project, the Religious Freedom Tour, and the Georgetown Slavery Archive Project.