History of the Site

Archaeology in the city of Alexandria, has produced a lot of sites, but most of them focus on the late 1700s and early 1800s. One of the most interesting ones is Shuter's Hill which is located on the grounds of the National Masonic Temple in Alexandria, Virginia. In the pre-history of Shuter's Hill, Native American Indians used this hill as a hunting ground. The hill, at this time, would have been thickly wooded by oak and hickory trees. The Indians occupied this area for about 5000 years. In 1781, John Mills built a two-story framed mansion on the hill. Then, in 1786, a lawyer and farmer named Ludwell Lee bought the lot and added a cemetery (which was moved in 1948). In 1799, the mansion was sold to Benjamin Dulany. On February 7, 1842, the house burnt down. In 1851, the Dulany's sold part of their lot to the water company to help build the cities first reservoir. During the Civil War era, the hill had two forts: 1) Ellsworth (which protected Duke Street); and 2) Dahlgen (which protected King Street). In early 1900, a golf course was built there. Eight years later, the land was divided into lots for houses named George Washington Park.

Recent Excavation

Excavation on the site began in 1995 by Donald Robey and archaeologists from the city of Alexandria. The excavation proved that American Indians visited the site. Over the past five years, archaeologists and amateur assistants have found many artifacts that help piece together a picture of everyday life in Alexandria in the 1800's.

My Personal Experience

When I went to Shuter's Hill, it was very exciting to see archaeologists digging at a real site. I was able to "screen" dirt and find interesting artifacts such as bullets, buttons, pottery, and nails. Sometimes, the digging work looked hot and boring. They were very patient. But then they would find an artifact or a wall or something that was interesting. At the end of the day, we gave the archaeologists the artifacts back in paper bags which had special numbers and letters on them that tell the archaeologists where the artifacts were found in the site. Many of the artifacts found at Shuter's Hill are on display at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia.