Jane Gates Heritage House

Jane Gates Heritage House

The week of September 3-8, 2019 saw a professional archaeological investigation undertaken on the grounds of the Jane Gates Heritage House on Greene Street in Cumberland, Maryland. This was overseen by consultants brought in from Texas as well as nearby Pennsylvania. Members of the Western Maryland Archaeological Society assisted and as a learning experience members of the general public were also invited to participate. Tours of the home were also given over the week-end.

Along with an interior view of the home, one of the photographs depicted here was taken on September 5 and shows Roy Brown and Gary Grant of the Western Maryland Archaeological Society working at the site.

The two-story wooden-frame home was originally purchased by Jane Gates (c1819-1888), a woman who had been born into slavery. Gates bought the house shortly after the Civil War and the 1870 census notes she lived here along with her five children, all of whom she supported while working as a nurse and laundress. The Gates family has maintained their connection with the house from that time until the present. It is currently undergoing a major restoration and renovation with grants funded through the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture which are jointly administrated by the Maryland Historical Trust.

For more information on Jane Gates and her descendants visit the following links on this website:

Jane Gates – A Historical Matriarch

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Dolores A. Gates-Thomas

Jane Gates

Henry L. Gates, Sr.

Robert Gates

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.