Archaeologists find log road in Annapolis

So-called `corduroy road' -- dating from the early 1700s -- is under Fleet Street

After they had pumped away water into buckets and wiped away the mud, the team, over the weekend, uncovered six logs about an inch and a half apart, leading Leone to believe it was a "corduroy" road - nicknamed for its bumpy nature - used by colonists to cart wagons of goods over the marshy waterfront to market in the early 1700s. He thinks there could be hundreds more logs, and he hopes to find out how far the road stretches.

It could be part of the Southeast Line, a throughway that ran through the southern and eastern parts of the city from Dorsey's Creek to City Dock. It is listed on a 1684 survey of the settlement. Historians don't know whether the log road dates from then or the early 1700s.

"All the story is not in yet," said Tony Lindauer, an Annapolis historian. "We've got to check our sources."

The road creates a benchmark for historians to compare to maps and uncover the original grid of the city, said Matthew Paulus, the project manager of the dig.

The dig site has drawn the attention of the public. Last weekend, more than 200 passers-by rubbernecked and asked questions, Cochran said. Ann Dax, who lives next door, walked over yesterday for a look. She used to volunteer at archaeological digs around the area.

"I'm very impressed," she said.

Cochran thinks it is important to tell the site's story to the public.

"It's exciting to involve the public with their past," he said.