Architectural Fabric Investigation and Documentation of the Robinson House, Manassas National Battlefield

The project was conducted by the Williamsport Preservation Training Center under an agreement with Manassas National Battlefield and the guidance of the National Capital Regional Office. The project began on April 7, 1994. The purpose of the project was to collect information relative to the Robinson House and its outbuilding's physical history and correlate it with documentation and historical information previously gathered about the structures. The process of the investigation was a "stick by stick" dismantling of the structure that would be carefully documented in order to determine physical history and construction chronology of the Robinson House and outbuilding. Before any destructive investigation could begin, written compliance had to be received under the provisions in Section 106 of the Historic Preservation act of 1966. Obtaining this approval was delayed due to logistical problems. Therefore, during the early weeks of the project, work was confined to simple surface observation type investigative analysis. Once the agreement was received, the "stick by stick" dismantling progressed until the fabric investigation and disassembly were completed on June 15, 1994. At the completion of the investigation several questions about the structure were answered but, several new questions were raised. The investigation proved that the "Original" Robinson house had a south facing porch and that the chimney seen in the historic photographs found in the Park archives. The chimney on the 1870s addition was a reconstruction of the "original" chimney seen in historic photographs. Ghost mark patterns of the roof line of the "original" structure was located on the 1870s addition. This information will prove helpful in the event a reconstruction of the "original" house is planned. The new questions raised are based on the building methodologies employed in the construction of the ~ 870s addition and 1926 addition. The 1870s addition appears to be constructed of apparently reused materials that seem to have been prepared for the construction of a timber framelballoon frame structure but, the framing members do not show marks of their previous use, such as nail holes or ghost marks from lath. The investigation did however proved successful prove in achieving the goals of establishing a building morphology and laying the ground work for further archeological investigation.