BGuthrie Photos: MD -- Clarksburg -- Dowden's Ordinary Special Park

MD -- Clarksburg -- Dowden's Ordinary Special Park:

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Description of Pictures: Dowden’s Ordinary Special Park
Enjoy Dowden’s Ordinary Special Park’s playground, walking path, benches, historic interpretive signs, Ghost Structure and elephant statue. The 2.75 acre park was acquired in September 2010.

History:
The Ghost Structure is of Dowden’s Ordinary, an ordinary being a tavern where early American travelers (and their horses) were offered food and shelter. In 1755 British soldiers stayed at Dowden’s Ordinary during the French and Indian War. The elephant statue was placed in the park in remembrance of “the first elephant ever seen in North America” that stopped by Dowden’s while touring along the East Coast. Dowden’s Ordinary Special Park is also the home of a Clarksburg Flag, designed in 2015, to fly over the crossroads of what began as two Native American trails that became Clarksburg in 1752.
The above was from https://www.montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/dowdens-ordinary-special-park/

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. DOWDEN_190703_005.JPG: Dowden's Ordinary
2. DOWDEN_190703_026.JPG: Dowden's Ordinary: The Elephant Comes to Clarksburg "This elephant, a female, is ten Years old, 8 feet 6 inches high. Her tusks have been broken off, but are growing again, having lengthened about an inch in the last 3 Months. . . . She takes a whip and cracks it, eats 2 Bushels of corn in [sic] the Cob a day . . . . She draws a cork from a bottle with her finger, empties it into her trunk and then pours, or blows into her mouth." - Benjamin H. Latrobe, 1811- Benjamin Latrobe, architect of the US Capitol made this entry in his sketchbook for October 11, 1811 during his stay at Scholl's Tavern (previously called Dowden's Ordinary). The description accompanied his drawing of the first elephant ever seen in North America. Capt. Jacob Crowninshield of Massachusetts, purchased the elephant in India for $450.00 and brought to the United States. He later sold it to Mr. Owen of New York for $10,000. The elephant toured the east coast from Boston to Charleston between 1796 and 1818. People paid 25 to 50 cents to view the elephant in city marketplaces or rural tavern yards like Scholl's. The elephant's last recorded exhibition was in York, Pennsylvania on July 25, 1818.
3. DOWDEN_190703_046.JPG: Dowden's Ordinary: A French & Indian War Site On April 15, 1755 a British seaman wrote in his diary: On the 15th: Marched at 5 in our way to one Dowden's, a Publichouse ... and encamped upon very bad ground on the side of a hill. We got our tents pitched by dark when the wind shifted from the South to the North - from a sultry hot day it became excessively cold, and rained with thunder and lightning till 5 in the morning, when in 10 minutes it changed to snow, which in 2 hours covered the ground a foot and a half. What were British soldiers doing at Dowden's Ordinary in the middle of a spring snowstorm? The answer begins in 1754 when Great Britain and France renewed their war for control of North America - a war that became known as the Seven Years' War in Europe. The war's spark occurred when George Washington's Virginia volunteers fired on a French scouting party in southeastern Pennsylvania. The French counterattacked and forced Washington from the area. In response to this defeat, the British in 1755 sent Major- General Edward Braddock to America to expel the French from Fort Duquense (Pittsburgh). Concerned about limited supplies, Braddock divided his forces, sending the 44th Regiment of Foot and his artillery to Winchester, Virginia and the 48th Regiment of Foot (about 700 troops) under Thomas Dunbar to Frederick by way of the Great Road through Rockville and Clarksburg. At Clarksburg, Dunbar's troops were caught in the snowstorm. Following a few days later, General Braddock took the same route to Frederick as the 48th Regiment, possibly enjoying a meal or spending a night at Dowden's Ordinary. On July 9, 1755, a combined French and Indian force attacked Braddock's troops outside Fort Duquesne. Mortally wounded, Braddock died five days later. Washington and Dunbar led the remaining British and colonial troops to safety. By 1758, the war shifted in Britain's favor, and in 1763 France surrendered, losing its territory in North America. As a result of the war, Great Britain imposed taxes on the colonists to help pay for its mounting war debt. Colonial opposition of taxes without consent became an important cause of the American Revolution. The Cannon The three - pound cannon is a replica of a British brass field piece, three pounds being the weight of an individual cannon ball. The cannon along with its carriage, weighed about 500 pounds and was drawn by two horses. Along with a six-pounder cannon, these lighter weight field pieces were more suited to the rough roads of colonial America during the French and Indian War. Route of General Braddock's doomed wilderness march to expel the French from the Ohio Valley.
4. DOWDEN_190703_069.JPG: Archaeology at Dowden's Ordinary Artifacts from the Site Tell the Story The Dowden's Ordinary site tells archaeologists use the tools of historical archaeology to uncover rural tavern life in Montgomery County. Historical records indicated when the tavern was built, who owned it, how its use changed over time and when it was finally torn down. Archaeological excavations reveal what the written record does not disclose -- everyday life of its owners and guests. Archaeological work began in 2002, with a grid mapped out in ten foot squares over the area. A Series of shovel test pits were dug in the corners of the squares, in a effort to discover the tavern foundation and trash pits. Because bedrock was reached a within a foot of the surface, the search for the Ordinary's foundations has proved elusive. The stone may easily have been salvaged, just as the chimneys were taken down and the brick reused. Trenching across the area located some large random rocks, possibly related to the foundation. Broken pottery, glass and metal fragments from the 18th and 19th centuries were found scattered across the site. Artifacts tossed up from a groundhog burrow may even have revealed the Ordinary's cellar. As expected at a tavern site, the largest number of artifacts relate to meal preparation and consumption. Future archaeology will continue to help determine the Ordinary's footprint and the varieties of human activities at the site over time. Oyster Shells (Seasonal down through the Centuries) Oysters, carted up in seaweed-packed barrels from the Chesapeake Bay, were common food used to complement wine and spirits. They represent the largest number of found artifacts. Slipped Redware Pans (18th century/early 19th Century) Coarse earthenware pans were often slip-decorated with liquid clay to form geometric designs. These utilitarian ceramics were mostly used in kitchen, dairy, and for serving. English Brown Stoneware (1690-1775) This medium-fired salt-glazed ceramic is the earliest type excavated at the site. Stoneware ceramic sherds are often found at taverns in jug (gallon & smaller) and mug (pint and quart) sizes. Clay Pipes (18th/early 19th century) Made from a fine, white kaolin clay, these molded pipes are often found as stem pieces, broken off and discarded when the smoking end became fouled, as it was passed around by tavern patrons. Olive Green Bottle Glass (18th and 19th centuries) Sherds of 18th century dark olive green bottle glass reflect Dowden's choice of both local and foreign wines. According to law, Dowden had to restrain his Sunday customers not permitting "...any person to tipple and drink more than necessary on the Sabbath." Glazed Redware Mugs (18th century/early 19th century) Low-fired red clay mugs were a common drinking vessel in taverns. They lead glazed to make them less porous and easier to clean. Dowden's Ordinary DAR Marker To the side of the archaeological site sits a artifact in its own right. Dedicated on May 10, 1915 by the Janet Montgomery Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the granite boulder with a bronze plaque marks the 16oth anniversary of the encampment of British General Edward Braddock's troops at Dowden's Ordinary during the French and Indian War. over 2,000 people attended the marker ceremony. The stone, which overlooked Route 355, was moved a few yards to its present location in 2006.
5. DOWDEN_190703_078.JPG: This Tablet marks the site of Dowden's Ordinary Where Gen. George Edward Braddock and Dunbar's Division of the Colonial and English Army made a second encampment in Maryland April 15-17, 1755 Erected by the Janet Montgomery Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution April 15, 1915
6. DOWDEN_190703_091.JPG: Tavern Life at Dowden's Ordinary The Role Of Taverns In early America, taverns or "ordinaries" offered food and shelter. both for travelers and their horses. The term "ordinary" originally applied to a tavern meal regularly offered at a fixed price, but later designated the tavern itself. The Maryland Assembly, like other legislatures, not only required a license for operation and a bond for good conduct, but also mandated a listing of the set prices for food, drink, and accommodations. Because of poor roads, early taverns were generally 15 to 20 miles apart, a convenient day's travel. On the Great Road (now MD Route 355), a traveler from Georgetown to Frederick could stop at a tavern in Rockville before spending the next night at Dowden's Ordinary in Clarksburg. In his petition for a tavern license in 1750, Michael Dowden wrote that because his house was situated on the road between Rockville and Frederick Towne, he regularly received visitors requesting food and lodging for the night. Dowden decided to turn his hospitality into a business operation. In addition to providing meals and lodging, taverns served as places for the locals to socialize, argue politics, conduct business, play cards, or bet on a horse race. At Dowden's, stagecoaches stopped twice a week bringing mail and news from communities along the route. More than a place to have a drink, taverns were the hub of community life. Tavern's Ghost Structure The tavern "ghost structure" represents the original Dowden's Ordinary. The inn was a one-and-one-half story log structure with gabled dormers, a shingled roof, a covered porch, and two fireplaces. Later Dowden built an addition to his tavern giving it an L-shaped form. The actual site is located on the hill and is accessible by following the path past the cannon.
7. DOWDEN_190703_101.JPG: Dowden's Ordinary at left, the Great Road (MD Route 355), the Great Comet of 1811 and the US's first elephant are illustrated in this 1811 sketch.
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