The experiences of children within the archaeological record are largely absent. This paper seeks to investigate the lives of children within Catoctin Furnace in Thurmont, Maryland from the late 18th to the beginning of the 20th century, through the examination of two sites within the furnace village. Artifacts recovered, as well as their distribution, from two worker houses, designated as The Forgeman's House and The Hoke House, provide a unique insight into the lives of children during this period. Cross examination between the aforementioned sites also provides insight into the differences in upbringing due to disparities between the individuals residing in these worker houses.

Recent excavations at two worker houses at Catoctin Furnace in Western Maryland generated many tobacco and alcohol related artifacts. The disparity in assemblages between the two houses appears to reflect economic and social class distinctions within the industrial village, even among workers in general. One tobacco pipe of particular significance, shaped like a devil’s head, identifies important connections to German territories from which many of the workers had originated. This paper demonstrates that tobacco use and alcohol consumption among iron furnace workers distinguished individual families while also integrating them into the broader worker community.

In August 2023, “The Genetic Legacy of African Americans from Catoctin Furnace” was published in Science, demonstrating that it is possible to wed the power of massive direct-to-consumer ancestry databases with ancient DNA technology by using the first reliable approach for identifying identical-by-descent (IBD) connections between present-day and historical people.

Key findings:
1. We identify 41,799 modern relatives. Of these, 2,975 are extremely close and include direct descendants.
2. We trace enslaved peoples’ origins in Africa. By sampling DNA from historical people with closer ties to Africa, we show that the enslaved workers at Catoctin derive from a small number of African groups, particularly the Wolof of West Africa and the Kongo of Central Africa.
3. We restore personal stories. Families are being reconnected with ancestors buried within the Catoctin African American cemetery.
4. Our NEH funded Descendant Communicator informed descendants, provided critical support, and organized a descendant reunion.

Two worker houses at Catoctin Furnace, the Forgeman’s House (18FR1043) and Hoke House (18FR1195) yielded dietary remains in the form of floral and faunal material. This analysis evaluates a sample of these dietary data alongside transaction records from the local store ledger. The results of this analysis explore the role of the furnace store in the provision of dietary staples, the use of wild game mammals as dietary supplements, and the integral role of foraging. These three aspects of food procurement allow us insight into dietary practices at Catoctin Furnace.

Phase III archaeological excavations at the Forgeman’s House and Hoke House sites in the Catoctin Furnace Historic District (Thurmont, Maryland) have yielded significant, contemporaneous ceramics assemblages that provide insight into the lived experiences of early nineteenth century furnace workers. The subject sites date to c. 1820 and represent the exigencies and realities of company housing at Catoctin Furnace during this time. This paper will engage in a comparative analysis of representative ceramic vessels to investigate the lives and labors of furnace workers at the turn of the nineteenth century and beyond.

The village of Catoctin Furnace in Thumont, Maryland, contains a notable number of extant workers’ cottages built during the iron furnace’s working life from 1776 to 1903. Although by the late 1800s approximately eighty tenant houses were known to exist in the area surrounding the furnace, today fewer than a dozen survive. These buildings, a mixture of stone and log structures, present an unparalleled opportunity to understand a much understudied type of vernacular architecture. For the last decade, Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory has undertaken a research project employing the science of dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating, to ascertain the construction dates for as many of the houses as possible. This paper presents the results of the dendrochronological research, setting it within the wider cultural context of changes to the ownership of the furnace, the fluctuating composition of the furnace’s workforce, and the economic development of the village as a whole.