Morris “Maurice” Pound, Lot 18 and 26

Underneath this lawn is the excavation site of a house built in 1758, from when Old Colchester was first burgeoning into a town. Around it, these two adjacent lots were bought for grape fields, an attempt by Morris Pound to establish a wine making business in early America. Although evidence of the historical settlement of old Colchester has largely degraded with time, this plot offers a glimpse into work and establishment of average people, who had to manage their lives in this new environment. Despite the poor performance of the vineyard, the land remained with the Pound family until in it came into the possession of James Potter around 1865, who’s negligence in paying property taxes caused the land to be split and passed down to a variety of different people until it was eventually bought by the Fairfax County Park Authority.

In the mid 1700s, this land was part of a vineyard belonging to Morris “Maurice” Pound, an early Central European immigrant to Old Colchester. He came in {year unknown}, most likely from Switzerland, although sources differed, with George Washington himself stating Pound was from Germany. Pound purchased two lots of land in 1758 in an attempt to establish an early business in the burgeoning Colchester economy. This one is lot 18, where the remains of his house were discovered. He was granted the land by the "Directors and Trustees" of old Colchester for as little as £12, which is indicative of the importance of encouraging commerce in early American towns such as these.

This vineyard was as much of an investment for the Directors of Old Colchester as it was for Pound himself, with the deed to the land stating that he would work under the expectation that the land would be reinvested to the trustees within two years' time.’ This could not have come to fruition, however, as there was a severe drought both those years, causing Pound's harvest to fail completely. Pound substituted his wares by focusing on brewing punch instead, as evidenced by his focus on purchasing large amounts of rum and sugar in nearby stores, although the family was still in deep debt from the business.

 At this time, Pound received a series of loans from the townspeople. He was endorsed by George Washington, who knew him as an “honest and industrious man,” and urged others to collect money to assist him. At least £150 were raised this way, saving the vineyard in a show of solidarity among the people of Old Colchester. The pound family ultimately never found great success as vintners, but the land was successfully passed down to his heirs by 1787 instead of being resold as his contract implied. It is likely that this incident gave pound a greater standing in the community, as they were given a unique credit record in the nearby store ledger, despite exclusively paying for products in cash.

Excavation of lot 18 has revealed the foundation of a {dimensions} brick building, with some interesting artifacts of the historical wine industry. A rotating spigot was uncovered from the lot. Although spigots were relatively common in the mid 1700s, this one was likely used directly on the wine barrels to transfer out liquid without aerating batches, a process that has remained relatively consistent to vintners in the modern day. {add from excavation record}