The Isaac Camp House in Washington, Connecticut

I recently drove up Route 202 in New Preston to shoot some photos of the Isaac Camp House located in the Macricostas Preserve, a 368-acre nature preserve owned by the Steep Rock Association in the New Preston section of Washington.

My interest in shooting a few images came after I had read an article The Litchfield County Times recently received from the Connecticut Preservation News, a bimonthly newsletter/magazine from The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit statewide organization.  The November/ December issue is highlighting Connecticut's Archaeological Heritage. 

As I was flipping through the pages of this newsletter, I came across an article about the archaeology of the Isaac Camp House and Shop, which was built in 1760 and is believed to be one of the oldest standing homes in Washington.

The home was a focus of archaeological investigations in 2009 that uncovered the beginnings of the agriculture industry, according to the article written by Lucianne Lavin, the director of Research and Collections for the Institute for American Indian Studies (IAIS) in Washington.

 In 2009, the IAIS received a survey and planning grant from the Commission on Connecticut Culture & Tourism to conduct an archaeological survey focused on the Camp House and its surrounding lands. 

According to the article, the purpose of survey was to guide the Steep Rock Association in restoring and interpreting the house. To complete the survey, Camp family records and documentary research was used as an outline of the household organization and the location of the former outbuildings within the property.

Isaac Camp was born in Milford in 1740 and grew up during a rapid growth of population in Connecticut's coastal communities which was fueled by trade and immigration with neighboring colonies and the old world.  The documents the IAIS uncovered that Mr. Camp married Jane Baldwin in 1763, he served in the Revolutionary War and died in 1793 in New Preston.

I have always found history to be fascinating and history in Litchfield County comes alive for me on a regular basis.  For example, this survey from the IAIS uncovered structural remains located near the west elevation of the house along with materials such as nails and bricks really giving the researchers a good idea of how Mr. Camp lived as a farmer. 

To read more of the article in the newsletter, visit http://www.cttrust.org/.