We have a really good idea of what we need to do up there.”

Joe Studlick, Battle of Rhode Island Association

PORTSMOUTH — Members of a local nonprofit who have pledged to restore and maintain Butts Hill Fort, a Revolutionary War earthwork, have their work cut out for them following the release this week of an archeologic assessment of the historic site located near Portsmouth High School.

The Battle of Rhode Island Association (BoRIA), whose goal is to restore and maintain the fort in order to provide a safe and accessible educational and recreational site, announced the completion of the assessment, which was carried out by Joseph (Jay) Waller, an archeologist with the Public Archeology Laboratory (PAL), one of the leading authorities in cultural resource management.

The site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is a National Historic Landmark, and is a contributing site to the Washington-Rochambeau Trail.

Joe Studlick, BoRIA’s treasurer, said the report was needed in order for the Association to complete a master plan for restoration and maintenance of the site, which is required to gain approval from the town, the state, and other authorities.  

“The archeologist tells us what we can do. There may be stuff all over the fort,” Studlick said, adding that other professional assessments will also be necessary before any real work is started.

For example, one of BoRIA’s goals for 2023 is to establish a hiking travel from the PHS tennis courts to the current entrance to the fort — the south half of the east side of the fort, outside the ramparts. “This would involve an archeologist, arborist, landscape architect, and then a firm to do most of the work. We cannot just hack out a trail and install mulch,” Studlick explained.

The report also confirms what members of BoRIA had already anticipated — Native American artifacts could be located in the area.

“The Butts Hill fort maintains significant archaeological research and educational potential,” Waller stated in the report. “Cultural materials and archaeological deposits associated with the American Revolutionary War, the American-Franco alliance, and pre-contact Native American occupation have the potential to be present anywhere on the hill.”

The report went on to say: “Given the site’s National Landmark status, future archaeological research programs should be conducted with the town’s (landowner) permission and under a state archaeological permit issued by the RIHPHC (Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission) and developed in concert or with the input of the RIHPHC, the designated state agency tasked with preserving the state’s cultural heritage, and the Narragansett Indian, Mashpee Wampanoag, and Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) Tribal Historic Preservation Offices on whose ancestral tribal lands the fort is sited.”

The report also recommends review and input from other organizations, such as the National Park Service. If future work uses federal monies or requires federal permits or permissions, the National Historic Preservation Act “requires that federal agencies exercise a higher standard of care when considering undertakings that may directly and adversely affect” National Historic Landmarks and “to the maximum extent possible, undertake such planning and actions as may be necessary to minimize harm to such landmark,” according to the National Park Service, the report stated.

“We learned that many more people are involved, including Native Rhode Island tribes,” said Studlick. “When the feds give you money, then it opens it up to all the Native tribes. We knew for sure the Narragansetts would be involved. It will be a more difficult thing with the involvement of the Native tribes, which is fully warranted, but it’s still difficult.”

The assessment, he said, makes it clear that the project to improve and preserve Butts Hill Fort will be “even more complex than anyone (on the Association) had thought.”

But at least now, he noted, “we have a really good idea of what we need to do up there.”

Recommendations

Future property land management actions have the potential to adversely impact the Butts Hill Fort National Historic Landmark, according to the report. PAL recommends that the committee avoid or minimize future ground disturbing activities within and around the fort to the best extent possible. Several recommended actions include:

• Future walkways and paths should be raised above existing grade to cap and protect the historical and archaeological features below as opposed to impacting them. Fill such as mulch, coarse sand, or crushed stone should be placed atop permeable geotextile fabric or some other type of landscaping barrier. Such protective measures are impermanent and reversible and will not adversely affect the contents of the site and its future research potential.

• Much of the fort is vegetated. Large trees and secondary vegetative growth to be removed should be cut flush to the ground. Root systems should not be grubbed or stumped to prevent inadvertent disturbances to and compromise the underlying integrity of the fort and its associated features.

• Signage, flagpoles, or other features should be replaced in-kind or in disturbed areas of the site if at all possible to avoid further impacting the site.

Since the fort is a National Historic Trust property under the direction of RIHPHC, the report was sent to Charlotte Taylor, the commission’s archeologist, for comment. In a letter to Studlick, Taylor replied, “It’s a thorough overview of the site and should be a very valuable aid to ongoing planning. Jay’s recommendations are on point, and we concur with them all … RIHPHC continues to commend your committee for your stewardship of this important site.”

The Waller report and RIHPHC letter will be made available here. This report will be part of an informational “Concept Master Plan” to be released in early 2023. BoRIA has gained the support of 29 partner organizations as noted on its website.

The Battle of Rhode Island Association (BoRIA) is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit committed to raising awareness of Rhode Island’s role in the War for Independence. Donations may be made payable to “BoRIA” at P.O. Box 626, Portsmouth, RI 02871. The Butts Hill Fort Restoration Committee falls under the auspices of BoRIA.

For more information, visit www.battleofrhodeisland.org.