At the ca.-1818 Hampton-Preston Mansion, a mid-19th century edition was unfortunately removed in 1969 by historic preservationists. Today it’s represented in, essentially, a sunken patio. The size of this patio and the outline all mimic the addition’s original footprint, and interesting things such as fireplaces, windows, and load-bearing walls are all represented either in contour or in different colored brick.
At the Mann-Simons Site, a property that was owned by the same African American family from about 1842 until 1970, there used to be a host of various buildings. All but one was reduced to rubble in the early 1970s as this property was potentially going to become a parking lot. We were very fortunate to have saved one building, but we wanted to tell the larger story of the family.
We did that through archaeological excavations, which informed the creation of steel ghost structures that represent the buildings that used to stand there. They are identical in shape, mass, and form, but they are not all exactly there.
And that is, I think, a story that is compelling to visitors when they come and go, oh, I didn’t think about representing the past this way. This is unique and gives us an appreciation for what was once here.
