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History in the Back Yard
Adam Giles, 13, left, and Derek Hann, 12, uncovered glass in their back yards, once part of a military camp 110 years ago!
(Photos By Ann Cameron Siegal For The Washington Post)
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When Derek and Adam realized that a soldier might have held that Fraser bottle 110 years ago, they wondered what he might have been thinking. What did he see as he looked around him? How did he pass the time waiting to go into battle?
Historical records show that while waiting for orders, the soldiers in and around Camp Alger played baseball, played harmonicas and walked seven miles to the Potomac River once a week (!) for baths. An epidemic of typhoid fever forced the closing of the camp, and there are no buildings to study. "What's left is only what's in the ground," Wells said.
Derek's and Adam's back yards have joined the 3,400 places listed on the county's register of archaeological sites. The boys were given tips on how to dig effectively and safely, and on how to document the location of items found.
The official record of their finds serves as another piece of the puzzle for historians seeking to form a more complete story of what happened.
"Not everybody is going to have historical objects in their own yard," Wells said. "That's okay. Make your own time capsule and bury it. What would you want people to know about your life years from now?"
-- Ann Cameron Siegal
