Outbuildings

The Brentsville Tavern depended on many people working in numerous buildings, and its outbuildings likely included a dairy, a smokehouse, a laundry, and housing. On November 22, 1828, the Alexandria Gazette described the lot as well improved, with every necessary outbuilding. Archaeologists found evidence of outbuildings, including a cellar and the Tavern addition, and recovered hundreds of artifacts dating from the mid-to-late 19th century. Finds from the cellar fill in Excavation Unit 43 included animal bones, bottle glass, metal objects, and ceramics, as well as a candle stand. Excavation Unit 7 exposed a foundation only two bricks wide that supported a wood-frame wall inside the Tavern addition. Excavation Unit 29 exposed a wall of a filled cellar. Excavation Unit 41 exposed a brick path and a posthole surrounding a brick-lined depression that is still visible and may have been an ice pit once covered by a wooden roof supported by posts. Future excavations will likely reveal how each structure was used.

Virginia · United States