ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER UNIQUE SLAVE BARRACKS IN ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY

Since this spring, Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) and Anne Arundel County archaeologists have been surveying along General’s Highway as part of a federally funded Transportation Enhancement Program (TEP) project. Currently, they are focusing their efforts on Scott’s Plantation, also known as Belvoir, the location where French commander Rochambeau encamped with almost 5,000 men in 1781 on his way to Yorktown, Virginia. The plantation was also home to Francis Scott Key’s grandmother, Anne Ross Key. Instead of an American Revolutionary War campsite, archaeologists discovered a 34 ft x 34 ft stone foundation with brick floors and thousands of artifacts including beads, animal bones, and dish fragments.

SHA manages TEP projects under the Department of Planning and Preliminary Engineering. It’s Director, Gregory I. Slater says of the archaeological aspect of the project, "Understanding the history around our highway network is an important element in our work; these activities and discoveries, as part of our cultural resources stewardship program, help us piece together that valuable story."

During the mid-18th century, up to 35 enslaved African Americans lived on the plantation. Some of their stories can be found buried in archives as well as the ground. A close look at the Maryland State Archives, for example, revealed a story about Cinderella Brogden, a young enslaved African American woman who lived here with her family until 1847. The tale includes an unsuccessful escape, lost love, and a pardon by the Governor.

Dr. Julie Schablitsky, SHA Chief Archaeologist, believes the site is a significant discovery for Maryland. “We have an intact foundation, the brick floors walked on by slaves more than 200 years ago, and pits full of everyday things. This site is an important contribution to African American history, and Cinderella is just one of the stories waiting to be told,” said Schablitsky. Archaeologists also wondered what the building could have been used for after emancipation. Recently, they uncovered numerous Union Civil War buttons and a Minie ball, a type of lead bullet used during the American Civil War. Indeed, a large stone barracks would have been welcome quarters for Union soldiers detailed to protect the nearby railroad once running along General’s Highway.

The property is owned by Rockbridge Academy and the school is providing incredible access for this academic research. Headmaster Michael J. McKenna realizes the educational potential below their feet. McKenna stated, "Freedom and liberty are important ideas to me as headmaster of a classical and Christian school. I'm so glad that Rockbridge Academy has an opportunity to help better our understanding of true freedom and liberty through the archaeological finds on Belvoir, and the uncovering of the slave quarters here.”

In November, Maryland commemorates the sesquicentennial of emancipation and this discovery could not come at a better time. “At the 150th Anniversary Celebrations of Maryland's Emancipation, 1864, this is a significant find. With numerous people of color tracing their ancestry to the inventories of slaves owners in Anne Arundel County, this unearthing provides a plethora of information for descendants of slaves who lived at Belvoir,” stated Janice Hayes-Williams, Chair of Annapolis 1864, City of Annapolis Commission on Maryland's 3rd Constitution and the Abolishment of Slavery.

Click here to learn more about Cinderella Brogden and the Worthington family.

Click here to learn more about this project.