A recent archaeological survey at the historic Catoctin Furnace village has helped identify the footprint of a long-lost structure believed to have housed enslaved ironworkers who helped operate the furnace during its early years.
With support from a Mini-Grant from the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area and the Delaplaine Foundation, the Friends of Cunningham Falls & Gambrill State Parks, Inc. funded archaeological and ground-penetrating radar surveys of the Mule Barn area. The research confirmed the location of a three-bay dwelling structure that contained three living quarters.
The data gathered from the survey made it possible to create a virtual reconstruction of the building (by VRCOLAB), allowing visitors to visualize how the structure once appeared on the landscape and better understand the lives of the enslaved workers who lived there. Link to Virtual Reconstruction: https://youtu.be/xsQbzcmY0KI
This project helps bring an important chapter of Maryland’s industrial and social history back into view for visitors to Catoctin Furnace and Cunningham Falls State Park.
We thank the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area and the Delaplaine Foundation for their support of this important work.
We would also like to extend our sincere appreciation to Elizabeth Comer, President of the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society and President/Principal Investigator of EAC/Archaeology, Inc., for her leadership and expertise in conducting the archaeological research that made this important discovery possible.
