Pieces of the Past

Pieces of the Past. . In order to know about aspects of the Wilsons' former house that no longer remain, researchers turned to oral history, maps, pictures and archaeology. Behind the house once stood a two-story kitchen building, a chicken coop, an outhouse, a barn and the work yard. Excavations in 1983, 2007 and 2013 uncovered artifacts and features such as the foundation remnants of the kitchen house and a trash pit. During the latter stages of the rehabilitation workers exposed a deep pit that originally may have been a well for drinking water. Evidence indicates that it later may have collected rainwater drained from the main house's roof. Today, brick pavers mark the well's former location., The Wilsons sold their former residence in 1876, two years after leaving Columbia. After owning it for 15 years, the Van Metre family subdivided the property. By 1911, the Houseal family became their new neighbors after relocating a house from Columbia's Arsenal Hill neighborhood. The Houseals, and the Lorick family, who lived immediately east, became important activists in saving the Wilson home from destruction in 1928. Demolition of the Houseal house in 1973 restored the Wilson property to its original dimensions.