Archaeology at Colonial Dorchester, South Carolina

Hard at work, hoping for some cool finds

So, I wrote last time about Colonial Dorchester State Park, the site of a star fort built during the French & Indian War and of a trading town located upriver from Charleston, on the Ashley River. This time I'll share some highlights from a homeschoolers' field trip our family attended quite a few years ago.

Sifting the dirt pulled from the digging site

Musket ball and belt buckle

The town surrounding Fort Dorchester was abandoned soon after the British's fiery withdrawal to Charles Towne back in 1781, and the name Dorchester was later co-opted for a town further north. Oddly enough, unlike most of the Charleston area, the site was never built over. In recent years, ownership of the lands changed from industrial to state parks, and the relatively pristine nature of the site makes for prime archaeological finds.

The staff working the site were friendly and enthusiastic about the kids helping with the dig. The process is fairly simple but methodical:  the choice of a plot, careful digging with small tools so as not to damage artifacts, sifting the buckets of dirt lifted from the individual plots through fine screens, then laying their finds out on trays for inspection.

I see ... artifacts!

Digging with the bell tower in the background

Our dig site was the town's former market square. The finds might include fragments of brick, fragments of iron from tools or gear, musket or rifle balls, clay pipe fragments, and pieces from pottery or porcelain dishes. Previous finds included shoe and belt buckles, weapons, and larger dishes and drinking vessels, such as the mostly intact tankard I mentioned in my previous post. (It was creamware pottery with GR--Georgius Rex, denoting the reign of King George--imprinted in clay on the side, only missing its handle.)

Moss-covered brick, all that remains of the town

Click on the various photos here to see our actual finds more closely. The blue tray displays items found by my oldest daughter and second-oldest son, while the ball and buckle on the left were found by one of the other children on our field trip. That beautiful fragment of porcelain is my favorite! There's also a piece of iron (not sure what that was from, maybe the bit from a horse's bridle or a tool?), broken glass, a section of clay pipe stem, and the ubiquitous fragments of brick.

Late April in Charleston is already bright and hot, as you can see by the scrunching of the kids' faces. Still, they were very into it, which was a good thing, since I was doing this vicariously through them. :-) (I still had littles to watch while the older ones played, er, dug in the dirt.)

I'm not sure whether the park still does this or not, but they used to have Saturday digs open to the public, with participation welcomed by any and all who care to come check it out. We'd always intended to go back for the digs but never made it on those days. Still, it remained a favorite place for quick family outings.

My daughter managed a few shots on one such trip, back in 2012, of the exposed house foundations open for viewing at the site. I'm always astonished at how small the rooms were in colonial homes. Of course, even the wealthy of that time owned far less "stuff" than we moderns.

Outlines of the house foundation, pictured above

I'm also struck by the contrast this beautiful, tranquil place must be to the bustling town that once was. I've itched to go back and participate in a dig for myself, to experience the thrill of unearthing those fragments of tangible history.

Photo credits: Breanna McNear

Colonial Dorchester, South Carolina

Colonial Dorchester—formerly known as Old Fort Dorchester—is a researcher’s dream. A practically untouched historic site, never built over in spite of burgeoning suburbs. A visitor can stand inside a church tower built in the 1750’s, read gravestones of folks whose descendents still live in the area (one of my daughter’s fellow ballet classmates), walk the perimeter of a fort held in turns by the British and American forces in the Revolution. View the exposed foundations of houses that haven’t been occupied in more than 200 years.

A cool, shady spot on the upper Ashley River, where it’s more a creek than a river. Once, however, it was a bustling town on the road from the backcountry to Charleston.

The Bell Tower of St. George's, Colonial Dorchester

Dorchester was founded in 1697 by Congregationalists as a sister town to Dorchester, Massachusetts. Unlike Childsbury, which had its primary purpose as a trading town, this one was specifically a missionary endeavor--a colonial church plant. The town’s own church was located up the road somewhat (the White Meeting House, named for the minister who supported their move), but in 1706 the Anglican church decided to flex her muscles and  build St. George’s right in the middle of town. In 1751 the bell tower was added, the only structure besides the fort still standing after the earthquakes the area has endured.

According to sources (page 1 of the same document is linked above), many of the town's inhabitants moved inland to Georgia in 1752-56, citing a growing population and the area’s unhealthiness. In addition to the intense heat, the town was located on a river between two creeks, so malaria was prevalent. At this point, say the sources, the history of this town ceases to be that of the original Congregationalist community, and becomes that of the trading town, the fort, and St. George Parish.

The tabby walls of Old Fort Dorchester, up close and personal

The fort is one of the best-preserved examples of something called “tabby”—walls made of mortar mixed with oyster shells. Built near the beginning of the French and Indian War, the four-cornered star-shaped fort has ties to Fort Loudon in Tennessee. This connection is what you’ll learn about if you visit during one of their Garrison Days, or the reenactment held in February or March.

F&I War event at Colonial Dorchester, Feb 2010

My family had the pleasure of attending their first such event a few years back. This shot, caught at just the right moment as the muskets were fired, has been one of my favorites—and then last week I ran across its mirror photo on this site: http://fortdorchester.org/ That’s my family, friends, and me in the audience at right. If you look closely at my photo, you can see the other photographer, kneeling on the other side of the reenactors.

Yes, this is the upper Ashley!

Before that, however, we became interested in the history of the site by attending an archaeology field trip. We learned that a wealth of artifacts can be found just a few inches down, because the site was never built over, as so many places are in the Lowcountry. The archaeologists working the site allowed our kids to dig and sift beside them, instructing them in the proper techniques.

Remains of old wharf on the Ashley River at Colonial Dorchester

Down the hill from the green (originally the market square in the original town plans) and the fort lies the spot where a bridge once spanned the river, connecting the road that runs past the plantations downriver (Middleton Place, Magnolia Plantation, Drayton Hall etc.). The fort changed hands a couple of times between the British and the Americans, and was occupied for a while by Francis Marion. General Nathanael Greene took it back for the last time in December 1781. At this point, the British burned the bridge and much of the town, and the site was soon abandoned.

These days, the site offers a beautiful—and inexpensive!—place to let one's family run. Recent archaeological work has led to the placement of several information plackards and a kiosk where some of the artifacts can be viewed, as well as a diorama of the original town as they know it.

More photos—not mine—can be viewed here at the Quarterman family website. All photos in this post are mine or my daughter Breanna's.

It's been a long time since this fort was guarded by a redcoat!

(Fun fact: during the time period portrayed by this event, the redcoats were the good guys!)