THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607300519
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 223 lines
DAVID HAZZARD WENT on a busman's holiday recently and took his 15-year-old cousin from California to see Jamestown Island.
They stopped at the excavation site there and heard how archaeologists are tracing the palisade line of what might prove to be the original site of James Fort.
``I actually felt the hair on the back of my neck go up,'' said Hazzard, an archaeologist. ``I thought it's remarkable how I still love this. But I still do.''
His interest in eastern Virginia's rich history brought Hazzard to the area more than 20 years ago.
That interest is what brought him to Portsmouth last fall, when the state's Department of Historic Resources located its third of four regional offices in the city.
Hazzard is one of three staff members located appropriately in a renovated 19th century building two blocks from Portsmouth's oldest crossroads, at Court and High streets.
After all, their job is to show how preserving the past can add beauty and a sense of place to a community.
Their home in the Pythian Castle, a Romanesque revival building, is just one example.
Staff members are more than happy to talk about the merits of historic buildings or to take visitors on a walk down to the 600 block of High Street to see how tax incentives and faith are breathing new life into a turn-of-the-century retail area.
But call first.
While this time-traveling trio is proud to call Portsmouth home, there are plenty of days when they're not.
Instead, they're chasing history in the 19 counties and 11 cities they serve - a territory that runs from the Eastern Shore to James City County and from the North Carolina border to the Northern Neck.
A typical week in the life of the regional office goes something like this:
E. Randolph Turner, the department's senior prehistoric archaeologist and regional director, speaks to the Kiwanis Club of Portsmouth.
Along with administrative duties, he squeezes in a talk for a criminal justice class on state laws related to archaeological resources.
On his way home to Williamsburg one night, he stops by an archaeological site in James City County to do a field inspection.
Mary Ruffin Viles, the architectural historian, sits in on an architectural review board discussion of vinyl siding and gives a presentation in Virginia Beach for property owners interested in a spot on the National Register.
A woman drops by the office with a glass bead found on a farm. It looks like the beads the Europeans used to trade with the Indians in the 17th century.
David Hazzard goes to the Eastern Shore to get photographs of the Eastville Inn, an 18th century tavern that anchors the 47-mile Northampton County Heritage Trail.
He travels to Onancock to talk to the archaeological society there.
The same week, Hazzard pays a visit to Menokin, the site of a small plantation near the Rappahannock River that was Francis Lightfoot Lee's home. Lee and Richard Henry Lee were the only pair of brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence.
He makes a call on a canoe discovered in a marsh in King George County. There's a possibility that the canoe was used before Europeans ever set foot in America.
And he does an inspection of a Williamsburg archaeological site dating back to about 1625 - a property once owned by the minister who married John Rolfe and Pocahontas.
The itinerary may sound overwhelming, but save the sympathy. All three love what they're doing.
``I worked on a site in Sacramento, and we found a tremendous number of artifacts,'' Hazzard said. ``We referred to it as a Williamsburg West.''
That's the kind of reputation that eastern Virginia has among archaeologists, he said.
More than 20 years ago, Hazzard visited Carter's Grove near Williamsburg, where excavation was being done. He asked about job possibilities.
He was told to go to Ivor Noel Hume, the renowned archaeologist who headed up archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg from 1957 until his recent retirement.
Noel Hume told Hazzard he didn't need another archaeologist.
``He said, `The only thing I need is a wheelbarrow pusher,' '' Hazzard remembered.
``I said, `You are talking to the world's greatest wheelbarrow pusher.' He said, `You start Monday.' ''
A couple of years later, Hazzard joined the Department of Historic Resources office.
Along with all its eastern Virginia territory, the regional office is responsible for the statewide Threatened Sites Program. Hazzard has been the coordinator since the program was started 10 years ago.
An example of such sites is the Cactus Hill excavations in Sussex County, where an archaeologist has documented deposits dating back to 9000 B.C.
Even more exciting was the next level, where additional stone tools were found. A charcoal sample near those indicate a date of approximately 13,000 B.C.
``If we're able to firmly associate the stone tools with that radiocarbon date, this would make it one of the very earliest Native American sites in all of North America,'' Turner said. ``So we're dealing with a situation here that truly has national significance.''
Turner has been with the department since 1979.
Like Hazzard, Turner always has been drawn to eastern Virginia's history.
Born in Richmond, his father's job moved the family to Delaware.
But, Turner said, ``We were always coming back to Virginia to visit with grandparents and relatives, and I always grew up with history around me.''
Turner had been told about his family's link to Pocahontas and John Rolfe through Virginia's historic Randolph family.
But that link became real for him in 1957 when his family visited Jamestown's new exhibits, built for the 350th anniversary of the settlement.
Seeing the exhibit, the reconstructed fort and the Indian village made history come to life for Turner.
So at age 9, Turner already knew what and where his life's work would be.
He holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and anthropology from the University of Virginia and a master's and doctorate in anthropology from Penn State.
Both his master's thesis and his doctoral dissertation were on the Powhatan Indians and how they developed into one of the more complex groups in all of eastern North America by the time of European contact, he said.
Turner's most exciting field experience was at a series of archaeological sites excavated before construction of a residential development.
One of the sites was a Weanock Indian settlement that the English probably visited in the exploration of the James River in 1607, a site archaeologists believe is identified in Capt. John Smith's map of 1612 for Virginia.
In the same area, remains were found that ``represented very early English colonization as they moved up the James River,'' Turner said.
``At this particular settlement is one of the very best preserved English communities for the time period,'' Turner said. ``And the information that we gathered from this area is truly of national significance in terms of helping us get a better understanding of what was happening in Virginia in the early 1600s.''
Human remains from the site were examined by an expert at the Smithsonian.
The analysis confirmed that these early settlers faced a rough life, as seen through examples of broken bones and missing limbs.
``What we didn't expect was a large number of females were present - far more than we would anticipate, given that you really were at the edge of the frontier,'' Turner said.
Viles is the new kid on the block, having joined the department just four months ago.
But she spouts off tax incentive programs and a litany of preservation projects like a veteran.
After all, she has done a lifetime of homework for her dream job.
``I tell you, I've wanted to work for the department for a long time,'' Viles said. ``I tried to get an internship while in graduate school. When I came out of graduate school, they weren't hiring.''
Viles holds a degree in art and architectural history from Yale, and a master's in urban and environmental planning with a concentration in preservation from the School of Architecture at U.Va.
But she first learned to care about architectural preservation from one of Portsmouth's own. Her father, John Paul C. Hanbury, is an architect known for his work in historic preservation.
In Portsmouth, Hanbury is known as a man on the forefront of the movement to save the city's treasures from the bulldozer.
Hanbury headed restoration of Benthall Brooks Row and the Grice-Neely House on Crawford Parkway and much of the work through the years at Trinity Church. His best-known project was the renovation of the 1846 Courthouse, now home to Portsmouth's fine arts gallery.
Viles remembers doing plenty of tagging along as a child and watching her father at work. After graduate school, she did historic preservation work for her father's Norfolk firm, Hanbury Evans Newill Vlattas.
Two years ago, she left to work with the Portsmouth Community Development Group, where she focused on the nonprofit organization's interest in revitalization of the 600 block of High Street.
Viles also worked with the city and the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority in their quest to bring the Historic Resources office to the city.
Portsmouth was one of several localities that drafted competitive proposals to have the office located in their city.
Viles was thrilled just to have the regional office locate in Portsmouth.
``But then to have an opening - this is a great job, and it's a joy,'' she said.
Viles loves meeting property owners of historical buildings caught up in the excitement of revitalization.
She's also excited about being part of the regional team.
``When you think of Randy and Dave, especially with their backgrounds and their education and the kind of resources the three of us can pull together - it's a state service, it's free for the most part, it's a resource just waiting to be exploited.
``It's exciting, because I know we're bringing something to the table to help projects happen.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Archaeologist David Hazzard with the local Virginia Department of
Historic Resources looks over some arrow points that were dug up
recently.
Staff photos by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
Mary Ruffin Viles, an architectural historian, looks over a map
marking the areas around High Street in Portsmouth that are being
renovated.
A courtyard behind a High Street store is being redeveloped as part
of the extensive renovation project.
Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
This is one of the buildings that has been renovated
turn-of-the-century retail area of High Street.
Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Archaeologist David Hazzard, offers a closer look at one of the
arrow points he has dug up.
Graphic
AT YOUR SERVICE
For 30 years, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources has
been on the forefront of a nationwide effort to preserve the
treasures of our past for future generations.
The department offers assistance and services in:
Architectural and archeological surveys.
State and national register nominations.
Archeological assessments.
Archeological stewardship plans aimed at helping to manage sites.
Preservation plans.
Information and application assistance for tax incentive and
grant programs.
Workshops and presentations on historic resources.
Help for citizens who need information on everything from
artifacts to advice on how to find a mason who can work on historic
houses.
The department has more than 100,000 files on everything from
historic buildings to archeological sites.
For more information, call 396-6707. by CNB