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In 1997, the National Park Service undertook a cooperative agreement with the University of Maryland to conduct an archaeological excavation of Sudley Post Office at Manassas National Battlefield Park. Excavations by students and staff from the University of Maryland discovered the location of historic outbuildings and thousands of artifacts. This information allowed for the interpretation of how the three families who occupied Sudley Post Office used the landscape through time.

Sudley Post Office, ca. 1965.

The household occupation of Sudley Post Office coincides with four dramatic historical events for the Piedmont region and the Nation. These include the growth during the Antebellum Period, the social and political turmoil of the Civil War, the period of regrowth during the Reconstruction, and the social and economic restructuring following both the Civil War and Reconstruction. Though Sudley Post Office is located in a rural setting, these events directly impacted the families residing there. These households include the Thornberrys, from the 1840s to 1870, the Matthews, from 1870 to 1904, and the Davis', from the 1910s to the 1920s. The various roles that each of these households held within the community determined their responses to these events. The landscape at the Sudley Post Office presents an opportunity to interpret these responses by viewing how various households organized their activities within the space of the site and the wider community.

Excavators at Sudley Post Office, 1997.

This exhibit demonstrates how the archaeology at Sudley Post Office site revealed the varying uses of the landscape by these households. The tour begins with an historical description of the Community of Sudley, and then follows the Sudley Post Office through time as three very different families modified the property for a variety of uses. This discussion then focuses on the particular situation of the Davis household and how they used the surrounding landscape to cope with the problems that often met African-American families living in predominantly white communities during an era often characterized by racial intolerance.