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HISTORIC SITES
Lincoln Cottage – Cobble Gutter Archaeology and Reconstruction
Washington, DC
Heritage Landscapes developed a CLR for the National Trust for Historic Preservation at the President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home National Monument. Historic documentation led Heritage Landscapes to speculate that cobble gutters lined the elliptical entry drive to the north. During implementation, careful excavation uncovered a section of cobble gutter remaining from the 1860s. Using this evidence, Heritage Landscapes refined the construction detail. The original gutter was retained under the new work.
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Heritage Landscapes’ planning project revealed evidence of an elliptical drive approach on the north side of the Lincoln Cottage during the 1860s Lincoln family residency. 2
A historic photograph exhibition at the Library of Congress viewed by project manager, David Overholt, National Trust, revealed historic drives with cobble gutters at the Soldiers’ Home. 3
Construction documents were developed for the ellipse using the existing building and landscape to locate the drive. Gutter detailing based on historical images showed a 30-inch wide and 3-inch deep cobble gutter. 4
Careful excavation for the ellipse drive uncovered a fragment of remaining historic cobble gutter below the existing drive. 5
Measuring and documenting the uncovered historic gutter served to refine the gutter detail. 6
Masonry contractor created mock-ups of the cobble gutter feature. Heritage Landscapes noted that the linear arrangement failed to match the historic character. A second irregularly coursed mock-up was created and used to guide the work. 7
The new cobble gutter was constructed to match the character of the historic feature using the refined mock-up and the revised detail.8
The archaeological evidence of the gutter was retained in-situ and covered. The reconstructed elliptical drive with cobble gutter recaptures the character of the approach to the Lincoln Cottage where Civil War troops rode with Lincoln and official guests entered the modest house. 
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