Building has 'story to tell'

Earlier this year, the Moncure Conway Foundation decided that since October is National Archaeology Month, it would be the most appropriate time to dig into the history of the little red-brick building at 123 Cambridge St. in Falmouth.

Known as the Magistrate's Office, "It is the oldest surviving county-owned municipal building in Stafford County," said Anita Dodd, chairwoman of the foundation. It's also the smallest--its footprint is 12 by 16 feet.

"Its diminutive size has always intrigued me," Dodd said.

The dig, to start along the south side of the building, was scheduled for Oct. 17-18. The 35-member Conway group, which seeks to preserve Moncure Conway's home and abolitionist legacy as well as neighboring historic buildings, lined up a corps of five diggers.

But when the date arrived, so did two days of rain. Dodd called the dig off.

"Outdoor archaeology and rain don't mix," she said. The dig is rescheduled for the next National Archaeology Month, in October 2010. Meanwhile, there will be a public lecture on the project at Belmont next March 21 at 2 p.m.

Dodd said the diggers hope their work will answer some key questions about the Magistrate's Office:

When was it built? The best guess is 1820-30.

Had a previous building been on the same site? A 1790 plan of Falmouth indicated that a wooden structure, also a court building, once stood there.

What will it take to stabilize the present structure? Late in the last century a 3-foot-high concrete buttress was built across the back at ground level to prevent the office from falling into the backyard.

"It's still a pretty solidly built building," Dodd said.

The office's location in lower Falmouth, near the Rappahannock, puts it in occasional jeopardy. A stone marker next to the front door pinpoints a high-water level from flooding on April 26, 1937. Dodd said the building has lasted this long thanks to local preservationists, primarily Dr. E. Boyd Graves,

Graves led efforts to save it--and other Falmouth landmarks--until his death in 1986. A plaque outside the front door honors his work, as does a framed proclamation from the Stafford Board of Supervisors dated June 17, 1986, which is perched on the fireplace mantel inside.

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Anita Dodd, chairwoman of the Moncure Conway Foundation and director of the Magistrate's Office dig, lives in North Stafford. She graduated from Mary Washington College in 1994 with a degree in historic preservation. She worked at the school until 1997, and has since been with the George Washington Foundation as an excavator and lab supervisor. She has been involved with the Moncure Conway Foundation since it was founded in 2005. The foundation celebrates Moncure Daniel Conway, a rare Southern abolitionist whose historic home is a few blocks from the Magistrate's Office. The foundation seeks to preserve not only the Conway legacy but also the historic areas of Falmouth and Fredericksburg.

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Date published: 11/10/2009

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