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Lives of first county residents are highlighted
Government building exhibits old artifacts
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by EMILY BARNES
Port Tobacco resident Mark Posey, a junior at St. Mary's College of Maryland, takes a break from working on a display of local artifacts that are featured in an archaeological exhibit in the lobby of the county government building in La Plata.
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An archaeological exhibit unveiled last week in the county government building in La Plata gives folks a peek into local history through the display of American Indian and Colonial artifacts.
The exhibit showcases artifacts discovered at the Naval Support Facility Indian Head after an explosion in 1957 revealed evidence of early American Indian settlements at what is referred to as the Posey site and relics found in 2008 during an archaeological dig for Moore's Lodge, the county's first courthouse, on Greenland Farm near La Plata, said Donna Dudley, the county's chief of tourism.
The exhibit was created in partnership with the Maryland Historical Trust, Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab at Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum in Calvert County, NSF in Indian Head and the Charles County Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Dudley said, adding that the artifacts were conserved and stored at the lab at JPPM.
Funding to do the exhibit was provided through an Institute for Museum, Preservation, Archaeology Research and Training grant. The money provided a stipend for Port Tobacco resident Mark Posey, a student at St. Mary's College of Maryland, to research artifacts and work with JPPM staff to develop and install the exhibit, Dudley said.
"The Maryland Historical Trust had the idea to look for a way to bring some of these wonderful artifacts that are stored at JPPM into the public venue," she said. "They want to do this in every county in Maryland. Charles County is the first jurisdiction to have such an exhibit. We're the first and it's nice to be first."
Posey, 20, an economics major with a minor in history, said he got involved in the project in May. Doing the project earned him four college credits.
"I really enjoyed it," he said. "I found it fascinating. I've always had an interest in history and it was really interesting to learn more about the county's early history."
The exhibit consists of artifacts and images that depict the time in history that relates to the relics displayed in the glass-enclosed showcase in the lobby of the county government building, Posey said.
"Some of the artwork depicts Native Americans and what they were doing during that time period," he said. "I'm very glad that I got involved with this. I learned a tremendous amount of information during the process."
The Charles County commissioners unveiled the exhibit Sept. 30 with the help of Patricia Samford, director of the archaeological conservation lab at JPPM in St. Leonard.
Samford said she is glad that some of the county's artifacts are being displayed for everyone to enjoy instead of being tucked away at the lab.
"What we really want to do is get some of these artifacts back out into the counties where they came from so residents can learn about the past," she said during the unveiling. "The idea for having a statewide program in Maryland has been something under discussion for about four years."
Charles County seemed the perfect place to begin the model artifact exhibition program because of the recent archaeological discoveries in Port Tobacco and Moore's Lodge, Samford said.
"The county was very easy to partner with," she said. "The county commissioners have been so supportive of the Moore's Lodge project that we anticipated they would be excited about an exhibit of this kind."
"I'm very excited and pleased with this exhibit," said commissioners' Vice President Edith J. Patterson (D). "This is not necessarily for us; it's for our future. We have a chance to know and recognize the contributions of our forebears and learn what we can do to preserve the future."
"My vocation is public service; my love is history," said Commissioner Gary V. Hodge (D). "This is a wonderful contribution to this county."
The exhibit can be viewed from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
"There's a real interest in history here; there's a real buzz," Dudley said. "Archaeology tells you something about your own history. This exhibit is not a book. It's something you can actually look at. It allows us to connect to a thread of history that we didn't know much about. These artifacts tell us wonderful things about our past."
Staff writer Meredith Somers contributed to this report.
Check out local artifacts
An archaeological exhibit of American Indian and Colonial artifacts unearthed at the Naval Support Facility Indian Head and Moore's Lodge, the county's first courthouse near La Plata, is on display from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday in the lobby of the county government building, 200 Baltimore St., La Plata.
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