EASTON, Md. - The Asbury United Methodist Church, in Easton's historic area, uncovered artifacts after an excavation on Sunday and Monday.
Flooding and drainage problems required new pipes to be laid on the site. The state of Maryland required an archeologist to be on site.
Among the dirt, the archeologist found, broken pieces of a plate, teacup, broken glass, old bricks, marbles, nails, and oyster shells.
Tarence Bailey, five times great nephew of Frederick Douglass says, "I am glad that they had somebody come out and actually look into the archeology, to make sure there were no artifacts being lost. It makes me proud to be apart of this community."
Natalie Slater, Communication Manager of Easton Economic says, "Its a 300-year-old town, so of course when there's something that is a piece of history, you get excited. And you think, who did it belong to?"
The area is also know as "The Hill." "A historic community that is one of the nation's oldest African American communities, established by free black individuals in the year of 1787," says Dale Green. Green is an architecture and historic preservation professor at Morgan State University. Green says, the artifacts found at this project and others, "continue to speak to the testament of the Hill Community." Around 900 artifacts have been found, from the area's other sites.
Archeologist, Mark Leonie, and Anthropology professor at the University of Maryland, who did not work on this project. However he has found many artifacts around this historic area.
"In terms of the rubbish, in terms of the discards, in terms of the coins, and in terms of the marbles, we have a much better sense of listening to the people that actually used them and by how they lived their lives," says Leonie.
Mayor of Easton, Robert Willey, says these artifacts will mean a lot to the community and the church.
