Traveling to History: Nineteen
RACKLIFFE HOUSE: A VISIT TO AN 18th-CENTURY SEASIDE MANOR
By James F. Lee
View of Rackliffe House looking from Sinepuxent Bay. (Photo by Robin Harrison)
Our first approach to the house was on foot, following a path through woods of pine, sweet gum, and live oak, bordering Sinepuxent Bay. We had parked the car by the Assateague Island Visitor Center and decided to walk the half-mile to the house. Birds fluttered in the arched trees, and a family of deer with two fawns crossed our path. The air smelled like the sea.
On a rise stood Rackliffe House, a small, sturdy, two-and-a-half story brick manor house built in 1742 by Captain Charles Rackliffe.
It was an impressive location, 1,700 acres to grow corn, tobacco, and wheat. Salt production was a major source of income for the estate. Access to the sea allowed a flourishing ocean trade for luxury goods. And across Sinepuxent Bay, Assateague Island provided a haven for raising sheep, pigs, and cattle, safe from the mainland tax collector.
Native Americans, most likely Assateagues, once lived here. The native people were relentlessly pushed out of their lands by the European settlers. By the time Rackliffe House was built, few Assateagues were left in the area.
A path leading to Rackliffe House that runs along the edge of Sinepuxent Bay. (Photo by Carol A. Keller)
That the house still stands is remarkable. The Rackliffes occupied the house until 1801 and then it passed on to several tenants and owners throughout the years. A fire in 1928 destroyed the interior and roof. The house was divided into apartments, and later stood vacant. By 1996, the State of Maryland acquired the surrounding land and house, and restoration was begun by the Rackliffe House Trust, opening to the public by 2011.
The house itself is small, four rooms up and down, reconstructed to reflect its 18th-century era. The Rackliffe line died out in the 1830s and artifacts related to the family no longer exist; those on display are period pieces.
Docent Barbara Johnson greeted us at the front door (facing the water) and guided us into a large room with Williamsburg blue paneling, wainscoting, and crown molding reflecting the wealth of the Rackliffes. Here we watched a film outlining the history of the house.
A docent in the kitchen of Rackliffe House shows antique kitchenware to children. (Photo courtesy of Rackliffe House)
Johnson told us the house has been restored to its 18th-century appearance as accurately as possible, a challenge given the long history of the house, and many uses it has gone through. She pointed to the heartwood pine floors with hand-wrought nails that run throughout the house. These floors are not original to the house but were purchased from another 18th-century plantation during Rackliffe House’s restoration.
Next, we entered a first floor room furnished with a spinning wheel and learned the rudiments of spinning wool, a major occupation for family members and enslaved servants. The bricks in the hearth are original to the Rackliffes. Johnson pointed out that to save on taxes, fireplaces in the house share chimneys because taxes were based on the number of chimneys.
The Children’s Room, upstairs next to the Master Bedroom. Note the narrow cradle. (Photo by Robin Harrison)
In the front room, panels illustrate the history of the area, the house, and the Rackliffes.
The kitchen was built separately from the house and later connected with a hyphen, a connecting link between two structures. Two big windows allow light and plenty of air movement. A large fireplace stands at one end of the room.
Upstairs provides a sense of what life might have been like for the Rackliffe family. As many as 14 people slept in the four rooms here. A large rope bed occupies the master bedroom. In the children’s room, docent Ellie Scott points out a rather narrow cradle and explained that such narrow confines were thought to keep the baby’s spine straight. She then showed us a pocket primer, called a battledore, which children memorized and carried in their pockets awaiting an adult to withdraw it and ask a question.
The front (seaward facing side) of Rackliffe House. The oversize “lookout” window is above the front door. (Photo by James F. Lee)
The house is notable for its large multi-paned sash windows.
“They [the Rackliffes] wanted to be as grand as Williamsburg, as grand as Philadelphia,” said Scott. “And here is a small brick house with huge windows. Glass was expensive, glass was taxed, but they wanted to show off.”
A display upstairs at Rackliffe House illustrates the lives of enslaved people at Rackliffe House and Worcester County, Maryland. Note the names of enslaved people on the walls. (Photo by Robin Harrison)
The most intriguing window is the oversized front window at the top of the central staircase. This 24-pane sash window (12 up and 12 down) overlooks the once navigable Sinepuxent Bay, offering a panoramic view of the inlet and Assateague Island.
We asked Scott where the enslaved people on the plantation lived. She explained that the location of the enslaved people’s quarters is unknown at present but plans for electronic sounding around the property are in the works.
Still, the lives of the enslaved people on that plantation are not completely unknown. One of the upstairs rooms houses a poster display about enslaved people on the plantation and African Americans who lived in Worcester County beyond. On the walls are the names of enslaved people listed in Charles Rackliffe’s will of 1752, just first names, of course, because slaves were often denied the humanity of a family surname.
The garden on the grounds of Rackliffe House. Oregano, basil, and rosemary were growing there during our visit. (Photo by James F. Lee)
One panel provides a telling detail from that will, showing that 12 of Rackliffe’s 18 slaves were divided between his nine children as part of their inheritance.
A display case in the center of the room contains pottery fragments found by archeologists from work areas around the house that likely were utilized by enslaved people.
Another room upstairs contains a display about Native American life on the Delmarva Peninsula, especially during the time of the first European contacts, including canoe-making, fishing, and farming practices. In the 17th and 18th centuries European settlers, including the Rackliffes, aggressively acquired Native people’s land and displaced the original occupants. In a scenario that would be replayed countless times in the coming decades, the Native population was ravaged by disease brought by the Europeans, and survivors removed to reservations, in this case, near present-day Snow Hill, Maryland.
The large “lookout” window on the second floor of Rackliffe House. This window offers a view to Sinepuxent Bay and Assateague Island. (Photo by James F. Lee)
Only one of the original outbuildings on the property has survived, the milk house built circa 1800. The floor is about three feet below grade to keep milk cool, and louvres were used for cross ventilation. The milk produced wasn’t drunk but was used primarily for making cheese and butter.
An herb garden on the property enclosed by a fence contains boxed beds of plants familiar to 18th-century palates. We saw plenty of rosemary, basil, and oregano.
Our visit over, we headed back through the woods, thinking a lot about the story of this house, and the people who lived there.
Rackliffe House is open mid-May through October, Tuesdays and Thursdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sundays 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission $8 (16+), Free (15 and under). Active military free through Labor Day. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.
