The Center's Current Projects

1. Project title: The Brenstville Courthouse Complex Project.
   Sponser(s) & Location: Brentsville Historic Center Trust, Prince William Planning Office, Center for Historic Preservation; Bristow Road, Brenstville.
   Purpose: The Brentsville Courthouse Complex contains four buildings dating to 1822, and twenty-one acres of land. The Trust wishes to restore this property and create a rural village, as this was the former Prince William County seat from 1822-1894. This project involves historical and documentary research, a Phase 1 archaeological survey, and a technical assessment report.

2. Project title: The Fielding Lewis Store. Sponsor(s) & Location: Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc.; 1200 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, Va.
   Purpose: The Center assisted architect Joseph Dye Lahendro in studying this building prior to repair and restoration activities. This two-story brick building is a good example of 18th-century store construction with its unheated retail room to the front and private business room to the rear. Architectural research, including a series of test units, will reveal architectural features, the building's landscape history, and hopefully, help to determine the exact date of the building and what connection, if any, Fielding Lewis had with the building.

3. Project title: The Market Square.
   Sponsor(s) & Location: The City of Fredericksburg and the Fredericksburg Museum, Fredericksburg, Va.
   Purpose: Archaeology at the Market Square provided the opportunity to examine one of the last "in tact" market squares on the eastern seaboard. Preliminary field results of the excavation revealed the appearance of the market and it's uses through time. Also discovered were six intact 18th century burials related to the St. George's church. These burials will be later examined by Dr. John Boyd at Radford University to determine the age of the individuals, sex and the reason for death.

4. Project title: Kenmore.
   Sponsor(s) & Location: George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation, Fredericksburg, Va.
   Purpose: The Center was contracted to perform archaeological mitigation within Kenmore's south yard, which was part of Kenmore's five year restoration and preservation program. The excavation revealed a builder's trench for the house, several scaffolding postholes from the house's construction, and provided information on the construction date and various phases of the south porch. Also found was a modern planting bed and modern utility pipes ranging in function from sprinkler to sewage.

5. Project title: The Hollow.
   Sponsor(s) & Location: Colonial Williamsburg
   Purpose: The Center combined with architectural historians from Colonial Williamsburg attempted to date a surviving example of late eighteenth century frame architecture to a brief period of John Marshall's occupation (1760-1770). This task has proven difficult because of the longevity of occupation of The Hollow tract (late eighteenth to mid-twentieth century), and the relative brevity of the Marshall occupation. The Hollow was nominated to the National Register based on its architectural significance, but has not yet been accepted as the home of John Marshall. The artifacts are being analyzed in the archaeological laboratory and a conclusion as to the dates of occupation will be reached by the end of the fall.