Oral History and Field Notes on the “Old House Site”, Richard Stockton College
Sandra H. Bierbrauer
July 2003
The Old House site is located at the northwest corner of the two dirt roads, Louisville Road
and Delaware Avenue. This site caught my eye when exploring the campus back in 1972,
because of the introduced plants—Chinese wisteria, lily-of-the-valley, an Asian apple-pear
and catalpa trees, still present; and lilacs, long gone. These plants, and probably the largest
persimmon tree, were planted deliberately at some past time. Other “indicator plant”
species on site include the small fern, ebony spleenwort, found on old mortar and cement
foundations in the Pine Barrens. All these plants indicate the location of a former residence.
The final unusual ‘plant’ is Old Man’s Beard lichen, actually a fungus. Lichens are
especially abundant surface covering the bark of most trees on site, for reasons unknown to
me.
Other distinctive features of the site, when I first discovered it, included the rectangular
cellar hole, all that remained of a wood frame house; the visible concrete outbuilding
foundation, and a second outbuilding foundation largely buried today. Also, large piles of
trash were found, scattered around the woods to the north and west of the house site.
In 1988 I decided to use this location as the site for a summer school class, ‘Archaeological
Field Methods’. A student obtained oral history from elderly locals (by interviewing folks
at several local bars). He learned that the house presumably dated to the early 19th
century—(1800-1820), was wood frame with an ironstone and brick foundation, and had
burned down to the ground in the 1930s. The class excavated one meter square units along
and within the original house foundation, and found rusty bed springs, burned enamel pots
and pans, lots of molten glass, bits of ceramic, cracked mortar, brick and ironstone, and one
Indian Head cent, dated 1905. There was certainly evidence to support the end of this house
by fire! Between 1972 and 1988, much of the trash behind the house had disappeared.
Bottle collectors had “pothunted” the area in search of depression-era glass, which had
become fashionable by the 1980s.
Summary of findings: Summer 2003
The Governor’s School scholars established a grid using our original Datum, the large
catalpa tree. At various points along the grid we dug 20 test units, holes approximately ½
meter square by about 2 feet deep. (Note that no TU 11 was recorded). Artifacts found
included lots of melted glass of different colors, window glass, and some pressed glass
window. We found potsherds (broken ceramics) of plain white glazed pottery and some
“flowing blue” decorated china. One piece of imported oriental porcelain was found. The
largest artifacts were sections of terra cotta drain pipe. The oldest artifacts were bits of
early 19th century glazed terra cotta typical of Pennsylvania Dutch ware of the early 19th
century. Lots of charcoal, burned brick and mortar, and small chunks of ironstone were
found, giving additional support to the occurrence of a severe fire. Test units in or near the
concrete foundation suggested that this outbuilding also was destroyed by fire. The most
distinctive artifacts included a small brass button, typical of a lady’s dress of the 1890s; a
22 long shot rifle shell casing; and cracked bits of a cast iron wood stove.
A few of the soil logs from the 20 test units showed a plowzone. Most did not—why?
Note that a “plowzone” could develop from digging a flower bed, not just plowing a field.
Thought questions:
What resources attracted the builders of this house to locate on site?
How did the residents make a living during the 100 years or so the house was occupied?
The Stockton campus has become largely forested except for the areas developed for the
College and the local hospital. There were a number of farms on campus in 1940, visible
in the aerial photo. Why was farming abandoned? (actually a very large social and historic
pattern across the US during the past 60+ years).
A related question—farming left a relatively minor impact on the Stockton landscape.
How is modern development changing the area—think of the many recent and current
building projects on Jim Leeds road at the College entrance. If these developments become
abandoned in future, will forests return?
What can be learned from historic archaeology that you don’t read in a history book?