Dig finds remnants of slavery at site of future African-American museum
Slave ships from West Africa poured into the massive Gadsden’s Wharf on the Cooper River in the waning days of the international slave trade, bringing into Charleston about 75,000 enslaved people from 1803 to 1807.
The wharf was the largest in North America in the late 1760s, when Revolutionary War hero Christopher Gadsden, using slave labor, built it to service the rice trade, according to research by Robert Macdonald, a consultant for the International African American Museum.
The erstwhile wharf, however, morphed into an entry point for more than 100,000 slaves during its lifetime. It could hold six ships at a time, and included an 840-foot quay and warehouses. Enslaved people were held there in crowded conditions as they awaited the auction block or transport to the newly purchased Louisiana Territory.
Disease was rampant, and many died on the wharf. Some of their bodies were dumped into the river, prompting city leaders in 1805 to pass an ordinance prohibiting the use of that method for disposing of corpses.
The city of Charleston is raising money to build the International African American Museum on the site of the former Gadsden’s Wharf on the Cooper River. | Photo courtesy of Post & Courier
The city of Charleston earlier this year purchased a 1.23-acre site on the Cooper River between the Maritime Center and the Dockside condominiums on the site of the former wharf, and on which it will build the museum. The city quickly began an initial archaeological survey to see if remnants of the wharf could be found.
A draft of the results of that study by Brockington Cultural Resources Consulting released last week found solid evidence of the wharf, some elements of which likely remained in place until the late 1800s when it was expanded and refitted for various purposes. In three trenches dug in strategic locations on the site, archaeologists found bricks from the wall of a warehouse and fragments from timbers, 12 inches in diameter, that they think came from the cribbing and framing Gadsden used to build the wharf.
Felicia Easterlin, the museum’s program manager, said the $17,000 study was only the first step in the archaeological survey of the site, and she was amazed by the results. “We believe these are actual elements of Gadsden’s Wharf,” she said. “It’s huge for a preliminary first dig.”
And Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, who is championing the effort to raise $75 million to build the museum, said he too was moved by the results. He went to the site in October, when the trenches were being dug, peered into them and saw the remnants. “It was thrilling,” he said. “I went to look and there it was.”
Easterlin said remnants of the wharf or the warehouse were found in all three trenches.
The first trench ran from east to west in the Maritime Center parking lot. Archaeologists found the base of the brick foundation and the brick floor of a warehouse that was 300 feet long and 50 feet wide and stood on the wharf. The warehouse, which was shown on a 1795 map, served as a barracks for Africans until they were sold.
The second trench ran from north to south near the sidewalk between the Maritime Center and the museum site. In it, archaeologists found remnants of the East Point Rice Mill, which was used from 1819-1872.
The third trench ran from east to west on the northern boundary of the site and exposed the forward edge, or quay, of Gadsden’s Wharf.
And the first and third trenches also contained fragments of large pine timbers that the archaeologists think Gadsden used to build the wharf. Some of the timbers had holes drilled in the ends that could accommodate a wooden pin to hold them in place.
Easterlin said more archaeological work will be done on the site. But that won’t likely happen until closer to the time construction begins.
A ground-breaking date hasn’t yet been set because the city and the museum’s board need to raise the $75 million before construction can begin.
But when the museum opens, it will contain exhibits and information on Gadsden’s Wharf, Riley said. “This is a very, very historic place for our country.”
Article written by Diane Knich for The Post & Courier | Published November 29, 2014