Buried 'treasure': Hannah Jumper renovation an opportunity for exploration
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/news/local_news/buried-treasure-hannah-jumper-renovation-an-opportunity-for-exploration/article_85d57d68-14ac-5c1c-ad0e-c128cc3ed27a.html
ROCKPORT â€" When workers lifted the Hannah Jumper house to lay a new foundation, Rockport resident Lary Salo slipped under the historic home alongside the excavation equipment to dig up any artifacts that had lain buried for centuries.
With the permission of the property owner, Roger Caro, Salo used his metal detector to locate half a dozen coins dating to the late 1700s and early 1800s, a door handle, five brass buttons of varying sizes, a piece of coral, two clay pipe stems, pottery shards and a shoe buckle. For the time being, it is unclear which, if any, artifacts may have belonged to Jumper.
“I’ve been metal detecting for the past 35 years or so," Salo said. "My former middle school teacher was talking to the owner, and he secured permission for me to metal detect.â€
The house was built in 1740 and still stands at 35 Mount Pleasant St. today, though admittedly several feet above the ground. Its famed occupant, seamstress Hannah Jumper, led an liquor raid on Rockport residences and businesses in 1856 that yielded 50 barrels of rum and represents one of the earliest temperance events leading up to Prohibition. The house is currently undergoing renovations at the hands of Caro, architect Siemasko + Verbridge, and contractor Ken MacDowell.
According to Caro, the house was lifted four to five feet off the ground last Tuesday to accommodate the construction of a foundation beneath the structure. The house had been built almost entirely on the dirt of the Mount Pleasant Street property.