Digging for History at Lovett Park

The area around Lovett Library in Mt. Airy has a rich history, reaching back to the nearly colonial days when Germantown Avenue was still a Native American trail.

David Moore and the friends of Lovett Park are hoping to find some of that history this Saturday.

Moore and the friends are hosting an archeological dig at Lovett Park on Nov.17 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with their aim being to explore the what the park might hold before development plans kick in for the park.

The Free Library and Mt. Airy USA are developing the park, so Moore said the timing was right for a look at what was under the soil.

"This spot of land has never been developed," he said. "So we figured the time is right to start looking at what might be underground, considering the spot was never built on.

While there is no way of knowing what the dig will reveal, Moore has some hope that something could be there, thanks to a survey done of the area previously.

"We had someone come in and survey the spot with a ground-penetrating radar, which revealed that there is an 18-inch or so spot where the land has been disturbed. Now, we might find a four year old bottle cap, or we might find some 100 year old artifact."

While Moore says that he knows the dig could yield nothing, the area's historical significance is too rich for them not to look.

"We could find almost anything," he said. "Now, sure, we could find nothing, but it's worth a look."

There are five activities required to perform the investigation:

• Digging the soil from the square layer by layer
• Sifting the soil to find any possible artifacts
• Bagging and labeling any found objects
• Recording the information
• Photographing the activity

The dig begins at Lovett Park at 9 a.m.