Contractors dismantling old buildings on a Pickett Road property have unearthed some historic treasures.
First, after discovering the Mackall House's historic value, the developer of the property, J.C.E. Inc., decided to keep and restore the house at its present location. It will eventually be sold as a residential home.
Second, the city decided to save the barn on the same property, also because of its historic value. The barn's skeleton was disassembled from its former location last week and may be reconstructed and used as a teaching tool.
Now Christopher Martin, Fairfax's director of historic resources, said that he thinks the last building standing on the property, a house, may actually be the oldest building in the City of Fairfax.
"We don't know how old, but that's part of the challenge and the fun," Martin said.
MARTIN announced this discovery to the Fairfax City Council during a work session last week. The council agreed to take apart and keep the structure and reconstruct its skeleton, once more funding becomes available.
Martin needs to determine when the house was built. Working with archeologists, he will look at the history of the house and examine maps, tax work and deeds. Archeologists will dig up the ground near the foundation of the building and search for artifacts like coins and bottles. The Fairfax Public Works Department will also make a hole in the concrete floor of the basement, so that archeologists can comb through the dirt floor underneath.
While archeologists may not be able to determine the actual age of the house, these clues can provide a time frame for when the house was built.
"If we get very early artifacts, then we know it's an early foundation," said Donna Seifert, an archeologist with John Miller Associates.
Although Martin and the contractors knew that the house was old, they didn't realize its potential age until they started dismantling it. When they took off the plaster last week, they found another layer of plaster underneath, which was much older.
"Being an avid relic hunter and amateur archeologist, I'm aware to look for artifacts when doing work like this," said Jim Good of Bull’s-Eye Contracting and Restoration Inc.
Other characteristics of the house made Martin and Good question the house's age. The chimney, positioned at the center of the house vs. at the end of the house, points to an earlier type of German house construction.
The nearly parallel saw marks on the studs show that builders might have used a type of saw that was common during the early 1800s.
"Several pieces of evidence indicate that the house is early," Martin said.