St. Leonard in Calvert County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
What Life Was Like Here
Kings Reach Site
Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015
1. What Life Was Like Here Marker
Inscription.
What Life Was Like Here. Kings Reach Site. The main house probably had two rooms on the first floor, a sleeping loft upstairs, a chimney made of mud and brick, and a shed facing the river. Archaeologists speculate that a room for storing dairy foods was located off the north side. By looking at where artifacts were found, archaeologists concluded that the rooms on the first floor were a kitchen and a private family room, or parlor.
The smaller building housed servants or slaves. It had only one room, heated by a hearth with no chimney. Fences enclosed a small yard between buildings. A nearby spring provided water for the residents, and agricultural fields surrounded the buildings.
The Artifacts indicate that people lived here from 1690-1715.
While the main house may seem small and uncomfortable to us, the number of artifacts discovered---including many luxury items---indicate that the family was fairly wealthy. Circumstantial evidence suggests that Richard Smith Jr., the son of Marylands first Attorney General, lived here.
(Inscription under the image in the upper center on the red cloth) , Row 1: Spoons; Row 2: Jaw Harp, Knife; Row 3: Drinking Glass Stem, Stoneware Pottery, Beads; Row 4: Book Hinge, Buckle, Thimble Fragment, Furniture Tack, Cufflink; Row 5: Rings (finger and curtain), Pins, Bone Needle Case.
(Inscription under the images on the upper right) , Row 1: Buckles, Fish Hook, Scissors Fragment; Row 2: Hinge Pintle, Stirrup, Spur; Row 3: Key; Row 4: Kettle Fragment Chisel, Padlock.
(Inscriptions under the images on the bottom right) , Glass Beads and “WC” Bottle Seal; Horse Harness Ornament; Tin Glaze Pottery Sherds; Door Lock; Book Hinges; Keys
The main house probably had two rooms on the first floor, a sleeping loft upstairs, a chimney made of mud and brick, and a shed facing the river. Archaeologists speculate that a room for storing dairy foods was located off the north side. By looking at where artifacts were found, archaeologists concluded that the rooms on the first floor were a kitchen and a private family room, or parlor.
The smaller building housed servants or slaves. It had only one room, heated by a hearth with no chimney. Fences enclosed a small yard between buildings. A nearby spring provided water for the residents, and agricultural fields surrounded the buildings.
The Artifacts indicate that people lived here from 1690-1715.
While the main house may seem small and uncomfortable to us, the number of artifacts discovered---including many luxury items---indicate that the family was fairly wealthy. Circumstantial evidence suggests that Richard Smith Jr., the son of Marylands first Attorney General, lived here.
(Inscription under the image in the upper center on the red cloth) Row 1: Spoons; Row 2: Jaw Harp, Knife; Row 3: Drinking Glass Stem, Stoneware Pottery, Beads; Row 4: Book Hinge, Buckle, Thimble Fragment, Furniture Tack, Cufflink; Row 5: Rings (finger and curtain), Pins, Bone Needle Case.
(Inscription under the images on the upper right) Row 1: Buckles, Fish Hook, Scissors Fragment; Row 2: Hinge Pintle, Stirrup, Spur; Row 3: Key; Row 4: Kettle Fragment Chisel, Padlock.
(Inscriptions under the images on the bottom right) Glass Beads & “WC” Bottle Seal; Horse Harness Ornament; Tin Glaze Pottery Sherds; Door Lock; Book Hinges; Keys
Location. 38° 24.119′ N, 76° 30.709′ W. Marker is in St. Leonard, Maryland, in Calvert County. It is on Jefferson Patterson Park Road. This marker is located on the grounds of the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Saint Leonard MD 20685, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southern Maryland. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in the Mid-Atlantic, in the Tidewater, and in the Chesapeake Bay Region. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
3. What Life Was Like Here Marker-Outline of the buildings
Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015
4. Distant shop of th the What Life Was Like Here Marker
Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015
5. Sign at the entrance to Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on February 19, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 438 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on February 19, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
