While waiting for the new conservation building to begin construction, the staff has been cleaning up around the old and new work sites. In the process, Starr found something pretty interesting. She was sweeping up in front of the World War 2 era garage and noticed a number of markings in the concrete.
The markings are all last names and dates they were written in the concrete. So far we can read: Muller, Warren, French and Cox. The Cox may be a Coast Guard designation, however, and not a last name as it shows up in multiple places. The dates are all 1944, with March 15 and March 17 in two different spots. This all leads us to believe that the concrete outside of the garage was poured during the war effort, either to fix or replace what was there before. This also leads us to believe that some things never change and the chance to write your name in wet concrete is too tempting to pass up.
“French” inscription.
“Muller” inscription.
“Warren” inscription.
Unreadable inscription.
We had earlier found a similar marking in the concrete in front of the barracks, as well.
Barracks inscription.
The first thing we did with the barracks inscription was to mark the edges so that staff and visitors would avoid walking on it.
Next, Starr made a dam around the markings and poured silicone rubber over the top. Once the rubber cured, she had a mold of the inscription, just in case something happened to the original.
Silicone mold of barracks inscription.
With work planned for the garage area, we wanted to do something similar to the new inscriptions. The first step this time was to document as much as possible. The collections and conservation staff took a multitude of photographs from various angles and with different lighting in order to capture any detail.
The conservation team also tried to make a foil rubbing of the inscriptions, by placing aluminum foil over the markings and carefully tamping the foil into the crevices. This yielded mixed results.
Foil rubbing.
We most likely will not make another silicone rubber mold of the new markings due to the slight chance the compound will take particles of the concrete with it.
Instead, with the garage construction looming, we may simply remove the concrete sections with the names. There is no official plan right now, but it may necessitate cutting the concrete out and housing the pieces.
We are still researching through our archives on who the names might belong to, but if anyone out there has additional information, please share!
Andrew Thomson is the Assistant Archaeological Conservator for the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum. He received his graduate degree and training from the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M.