ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND GREAT HOUSE
The Indianapolis Star, Mon. Oct. 21, 1995
First Meeting place of Massachusetts Bay Colony
By Ted M. Natt Jr.
Associated Press
Boston --- Archaeologists working near Bunker Hill said Sunday they have uncovered
hundreds of artifacts in the 350 year old ruins of the first meeting house in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, where Gov. John Winthrop once lived and ruled.
" I think it's one of the most important archaeological finds in the country
right now," said Mike Roberts, the site's project manager. "this is the
heart of Massachusetts."
The 800-square-foot foundation of "Great House," built in 1629, was
discovered beneath a small city park in Boston's Charlestown section.
The town was originally laid out by about 100 Puritans, headed by engineer Thomas
graves, who were hired by the Massachusetts Bay Company of England to settle there from
Salem.
A combination of documentary and archaeological research was used to verify the
authenticity of the find.
Archaeologists said the building was occupied from July to October 1630 by Winthrop,
the first governor of the colony, who served under King Charles I. It was the
colony's first government building, as well as Winthrop's dwelling and court
before he moved to Boston.
"What we're seeing in Charlestown today is probably the best reflection
we'll ever have of the early Puritan settlements in Boston," said Steve Pendery,
the city's chief archaeologist.
Archaeologists began digging at the site in Feb. The excavation is being funded by
the state and federal governments because the ruins are in an area scheduled for
destruction when work begins in two years on an underground highway project.
According to researchers, the Great House was abandoned as the colony's seat of
government and quickly converted to the first Church of Charlestown. Tavernkeeper Robert
Long purchased it in 1635 and converted it into the Three Crane Tavern.
"For about a year, they had a tavern and a church running at the same time in the
same building," said archaeologist John cheney, the site's field supervisor.
On April 19, 1775, British troops returning from a battle in the Lexington-Concord
area occupied the tavern and looted it while waiting to be ferried across the harbor to
Boston.
"We think they pretty much trashed the tavern," said Cheney. "It looks
like the tavern was almost completely cleaned out."
The tavern was destroyed on June 17, 1775, when British troops, angered by provincial
snippers, set fire to most of Charlestown immediately before the Battle of Bunker Hill.
The archaeologists have concluded that most of the artifacts discovered at the site
date to 1775 or earlier.
After the fire, the town decided not to rebuild. Townspeople dumped dirt over the
ruined structures and later used the area as a parade ground.
" The whole thing is capped by a destruction layer from the fire and that was
buried in 1780 with 3 feet of fill," said Cheney. "So what we have is everything
just as it looked right after the fire."
JCT