Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory - Maryland


Maryland

DETACHED LOG KITCHEN

The Beatty-Cramer House, Frederick, Maryland (39.453366, -77.354050)


Felling Dates: Primary HouseSummer 1746, Winter 1746/7, Spring 1747, Winter 1747/8, Spring 1748, Winter 1752/3


Felling Dates: Spring HouseWinter 1781/2


Site Master 1635-1752 (oak) BCMDx1 (t = 10.36 FDSMx1; 9.44 HESSx1; 8.75 MARYLAND). Site Master 1667-1781 (oak) BCMDx2 (t = 9.97 DC-AREA2; 8.33 HQFx2; 7.83 RHVx1).


The primary phase of the Beatty-Cramer House was constructed as an H-bent timber frame building 20 feet wide by 40 feet long with multiple floor levels. It features brick nogging on the exterior walls and a construction technique known as “Dutch Biscuit” that uses horizontal wooden staves covered by mud and straw on the interior partition walls. Although H-bent structural framing is a common feature of Dutch Colonial architecture in New York and New Jersey, it is a rarity in Maryland buildings. A later log addition abuts the west wall of the primary house. The spring house, a two-story stone building with a gable roof, is situated to the west of the main house.

 

Dendrochronological analysis has shown that the main framing of the primary house was constructed from timber felled over a span of two years from summer 1746 through to spring 1748. The staves that were used in the interior partition walls were constructed from timbers felled in winter 1752/3. Taken together, these dates suggest that the main framing for the building was substantially complete by spring 1748 or shortly thereafter and that the interior finishing of the structure took place a few years later, in or shortly after winter 1752/3. The spring house was built with timbers felled in winter 1781/2. The log addition was found to contain a substantial number of reused timbers and therefore was not subjected to dendrochronological analysis.

Worthington, M J and Seiter, J I 2012 “The Tree-Ring Dating of The Beatty-Cramer House and Spring House, Frederick, Maryland,” Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory Report 2012/07


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Contact Information

Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory

Proprietors
Michael Worthington
Jane Seiter, Ph.D

25 E. Montgomery St.
Baltimore, MD 21230

410-929-1520

michael@dendrochronology.com