Can You Dig It?

archaeology |ˌärkēˈäləjē| |ˈɑrkiˌɑlədʒi| |ɑːkɪˌɒlədʒi|
(also archeology)
noun
the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains.

Porcelain toys


The primary goal of the 2007 archeological investigation at the Woodrow Wilson Family Home was to re-locate the piers of a detached kitchen that was constructed in 1871-1872, at the same time the house was constructed. The kitchen was demolished in the late 1920s or early 1930s, and no photographic evidence has been found to document its location and appearance.

Prior to commencement of the site work, archeologists from John Milner Associates, Inc, (JMA) reviewed historical sources, and the documentation of a previous 1983 archeological investigation by Dr. Kenneth E. Lewis.

Sanborn Map 1904

The work plan called for the excavation of a series of 5-by-1-ft., hand-dug trenches in the backyard placed in areas predicted to yield evidence of the kitchen footprint. A total of up to 100 linear feet of excavation was specified. The initial test trenches did not reveal any piers or footings. After consultation with the Historic Columbia Foundation and the project architect, the archeological approach was modified from trenches to test pits and larger 5’x5’ areas were excavated at the northeast and southeast corners of the presumed building location. This approach did uncover piers, but in a slightly different configuration than what was scaled from the Sanborn maps. The southern edge of the kitchen appears to have been almost 3 ft. closer to the house than is indicated on the Sanborns.

The recent archeological fieldwork demonstrated that considerable ground disturbance has occurred since the 1983 investigations were completed, including construction and demolition of outbuildings, the installation of utility lines (at least gas and electric) and wide-scale landscaping, each involving soil removal and reworking, fill placement, and grading. Mr. Larry Grubbs, facilities manager for the group of historic homes maintained by the Historic Columbia Foundation (HCF), including the Woodrow Wilson Family Home, told the JMA field team that bulldozers were used across the backyard area in 1984 for landscaping, and it is likely that numerous holes were excavated for bush and shrub plantings. A docent who has worked for the HCF since 1994 related that a garden was present across at least a portion of the backyard during the 1990s, and she also remembered that a backhoe was brought in during the late 1990s to remove a fuel-oil tank in the vicinity of the northwest pier; the installation of this tank as well as its removal obviously would have caused massive disturbance. These various disturbances are reflected in the mixing of recent and historical artifacts across the areas of archeological testing. The fact that only the basal course of brick now remains, compared to the two intact courses described for at least some of the brick piers in 1983, is an indication of the degree and depth of disturbance that has occurred since then.

During the investigation, soils were screened for artifacts and the field team recorded their work in narrative field notes and plan and profile scale drawings. scale drawings. The fieldwork was photo-documented with both black-and-white prints and color slides. At the completion of excavation, all test units were backfilled.


Decal and transfer print porcelain

Extract bottle

Wooden utensil handle

Up on the Roof

One of the elements of restoring a historic structure is determining what and why the original materials were used.


Christopher Quirk and Abdulla Darrat with John Milner Associates took us on the roof to view the condition and to see the mysterious inscriptions that were found on the chimney and in the concrete floor poured over the boiler room.


If you have any clues as to the people who wrote their names in the concrete please send your comments.
The names are Vivian Caudle and John McKinnon.

Although there are no definative answers yet, John Sherrer with HCF gives us a report on the roof:
The following report outlines the process undertaken by curatorial and preservation staff that led to the conclusion of what is believed to be the roofing material used at the time of the home’s construction in 1871-1872. Restoration of the roof carries with it both interpretive and financial consequences, as potential building materials vary in cost and interpretive appropriateness.


The original roofing material found on the Woodrow Wilson Family Home at the time of its construction in 1871-1872 mostly likely was wood shingle. Several different types of evidence point to this conclusion:
▪ The 1870 builder’s contract stipulates that the property should have a roof rendered in shingles, not metal. Had the roof been made of shingles, as the agreement stipulates then it most likely would have been clad in wood or slate. Had slate been employed evidence of its use should have been revealed in the 1988 archaeological excavation.

▪ Physical evidence found on what appears to be the earliest materials found within the attic indicates a nail pattern consistent with those made when installing wood shingles, one of evenly paired groupings, not evenly spaced single holes left when securing slate to a substrate.

▪ A survey of the 1904 Sanborn map indicates that at the turn of the nineteenth century the Wilson House was located within a neighborhood featuring homes, large and small, single and multi-story, that predominately were clad in wood shingles. This historic context suggests that the Wilson House’s appearance when brand new did not deviate from its neighboring buildings.













▪ Roof replacement involving a transition from wood to metal may have corresponded to Van Metre’s purchase of the property from Gillespie in 1896. Often, new owners render improvements to their property shortly after purchase.

▪ A private collection of circa-1874 stereograph cards depicting various buildings throughout Columbia indicates the presence of wood shingle roofs on both high-style homes and more utilitarian public structures.

▪ The overall architectural style of the Wilson Home, a vernacular interpretation of the Tuscan Villa style championed by Andrew Jackson Downing, would suggest that wood would be more in keeping than metal for the structure’s main roof, when completed in 1871-1872.

Recommendations
In order to achieve the most accurate interpretation of the property as the home of Woodrow Wilson (1872-1874) a wood shingle roof should be installed on the property.
A metal roof, which does have some precedent at the house, albeit at a later date than the future president’s time there, would prove to be the more durable product and the more financially effective installation-wise due to the limited number of experienced and qualified contractors capable of installing a wood shingle roof.

Project Start-Up

Woodrow Wilson's former home, located at 1705 Hampton Street enjoys the dual distinction of being the only house his parents ever owned and South Carolina’s only presidential site.



This nationally important historic site is undergoing a comprehensive restoration, predicted to take three to five years. Once completed, Historic Columbia Foundation will have addressed structural, mechanical, electrical, aesthetic and interpretative aspects of the home in which the Wilson family lived from 1872 to 1874. Additionally, improvements will have been made to the one-acre property’s grounds, including much-needed repairs to fences and irrigation and lighting systems. Where necessary, new plantings will have been installed to revitalize a historically accurate garden master plan implemented in the early 1990s.
Fresh eyes from the team of John Milner Associates as well as other experts in the field of history and restoration have come together to start the project.
First off was establishing what we know about the home and also what the possibilities are for future use.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856-February 3, 1924)

Details