Delta Welsh Heritage

In October of 2006, the Old Line Museum in Delta purchased two original stone quarrymen's cottages built by the Welsh immigrants.  Dating back at least to the 1850s, and built of local, rose-colored stone called Cardiff Conglomerate, they are unique to North America.  Through the ongoing efforts of dedicated volunteers, and generous community support, restoration is underway in the first of these cottages to return it to the way it might have appeared in the mid-19th century.  The second cottage is severly damaged at one corner, and must be stablized before restoration can continue.  Two other cottages in the immediate area are privately owned.  Tours of the cottages may be arranged by calling: 717-456-7124   

The Old Line Museum is located at 640 Main Street in Delta, and is open Sunday afternoons from May through September.

 
 The cottage at left is severly damaged; note the crack at the corner from top to bottom.

The Archaeological Society of the Northern Chesapeake holds an ongoing dig project at the Coulsontown site several weekends a year.  Visitors have included teachers groups, geologists, local students and historical societies, as well as the Smithsonian Institute.  In addition, many visitors from Wales have passed through, and are amazed at how much it looks like "home"!

A number of period items have been purchased for display in the open cottage, including shipping trunks brought from Wales and bedroom furniture.  

This style of house is known as a two-up-two-down.  This much space would have been considered a luxury for a quarry worker in the 1850s; there are two rooms on each floor, the ceilings are higher, and the windows larger. Quarrymens' housing in Wales often resembled a military-style barracks. In America they had the prospect of owning the property, something else that was denied them in their homeland, as housing was generally owned by the slate companies. Their wages in America were almost double that of what they were paid in Wales.

The first known residents of the lower (cracked) cottage were David and Elizabeth Williams.  Both born in Penrhyndeudraeth, North Wales, they arrived in Delta between 1850 and 1853.  David worked in the local quarries.  They had four children: Ellen (b. Wales, 1850), Elizabeth (1853), David (1859), and Jeannette (1862).  David died in 1887 at 67, and is buried with his wife and son in Slateville Cemetery.