Who Built this Village?

Who Built this Village?. Catoctin Furnace African American Cemetery Interpretive Trail. , Some workers boarded¹ others in their homes. In 1864, the rate for board was 12.5¢ for each meal. Single workers could also find housing in several nearby Boarding Houses., Using scrip² in place of, money, all supplies that workers needed could be bought at the company store. As in case of house rent, the bill was deducted from wages. In 1899, after working a month averaging 200 hours at 9¢ per hour and paying $2.00 house rent it was not unusual for a man to have a store bill of $10.00 and a take home pay of $6.00., In the decade before the Civil War, European immigrants began replacing the enslaved and freed African American workers as it was more economical to hire cheap labor than support an enslaved workforce. Descendants of the immigrants still live in the village. As you look out from this platform, notice the stone chapel, village store, and houses built of log and stone. These buildings represent the lives and skills of all village workers during more than two centuries., Harriet Chapel. The chapel was constructed by workers owned or employed by John Brien and named as a memorial to his wife Harriet McPherson Brien. Today Harriet Chapel is an active Episcopal parish that welcomes visitors., Worker Housing. During 130 years of operation, worker housing was provided by the furnace owners. Rent and charges for wood to heat the house were taken directly from workers' pay. In 1858, a trustee's sale advertised the ironworks with 60 houses. The remaining 12 worker houses are rare and important examples of domestic architecture., Some of the whitewashed stone houses were built by owner John Brien during the winter of 1820 and 1821, less than one year after he purchased the furnace operation. Multiple families and boarders likely shared the simply furnished dwellings. In a 1982 interview, Mary Miller Martin told Elizabeth Y. Anderson that "there are strong traditions that certain houses at Catoctin Furnace were at one time slave quarters," although she did not identify specific structures. The stone cottage that is nearest to the platform is now known as the Museum of the Ironworker (bottom)., Collier's Log House. Constructed of chestnut and oak, the house was built ca. 1810 and added to ca. 1830, resulting in the double structure you see today. Purchased by the historical society in 1980, it has been restored and converted into a historic house museum., The F.W. Fraley Store. This village icon closed in 1973. Heinrich Frolick (Fraley) was a Hessian soldier paid by the British during the Revolutionary War. Captured in Yorktown, he was sent to do hard labor at the Catoctin Iron Works while imprisoned at Frederick' Hessian Barracks. His descendants still live and work in the village., Who do you think were the laborers who built these buildings? What was the inspiration for their design?, ¹Boarded: to furnish with meals and/or lodging for pay. , ²Scrip: a type of currency issued by a company to pay employees. It could only be used in that company's stores.