When archeologists with the Maryland Historical Trust first discovered the foundations of two 18th century cabins in a wooded area off Oella Avenue in 1985, they knew they'd uncovered more than old stones.

They had literally unearthed the local roots of Benjamin Banneker, the famed African-American scientist who corresponded with Thomas Jefferson and became known for his brilliant mind at a time when many black men were still enslaved.

On Nov. 12, officials at the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum, which now sits on land adjacent to the original plots, took their latest step in preserving and honoring those roots by opening a replica of one of the cabins as it likely appeared between 1737 and 1806, when Banneker lived on the land.

"It gives a real hands-on experience of the lifestyle of Benjamin Banneker," said Ray Clark, vice president of the Friends of Benjamin Banneker.

"It's been a long time coming, but it's another extension of the legacy."

According to Steven Lee, the museum's supervisor for 12 years, the 224-square-foot replica cabin is the result of extensive amounts of research into cabins of the period in which Banneker established himself as a gifted mathematician and an author of almanacs, who also helped survey the land that would become the nation's capital.

The cabin's walls are made of broad-cut, hand-hewn American chestnut logs, its fireplace made partially of field stones from the area, and its side-latch shingles of slabs of white oak kept together with hand-wrought nails.

Its foundation is the same size as the one found in the woods nearby.

"The cabin is definitely a benchmark in terms of the development of the park," said Lee of the structure, which was constructed with a $400,000 state bond.

It's also just the latest of more benchmarks to come, he said.

When the archeologists uncovered the two foundations 24 years ago -- one thought to be that of Banneker's home, the other that of his parents' -- they only extracted about 10 percent of what was there, Lee said.

Among other historical items, they found a Spanish coin from 1779 and a small lens that could have been an eye-piece or part of a rudimentary telescope used by Banneker, who was also an astronomer, Lee said.

Many of the items are displayed in the museum or stored for safe keeping at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory in southern Maryland, Lee said.

But the 90 percent of the foundation archeologists still have to get to, Lee said, is a tremendous "historical resource" that he hopes more state funding will help unearth in the next five years.

Lee said that work will likely be just one part of a broader archaeological project that will also look for what is rumored to be a Banneker family grave site on the property, as well as provide a dig site on a nearby, and less-historically-significant, 19th-century farm ruin where members of the public could do their own excavating.

For Lee, the potential to find a Banneker grave is the most enticing prospect yet untapped at the park.

Banneker's grandfather was African, his grandmother English.

Their daughter became Banneker's mother after she married an African man, Banneker's father, who started his first farm in Elkridge before moving the family to Oella.

Banneker's father, known as Robert Bannaky, put young Benjamin's name alongside his own on the Oella land title, thus ensuring his son's status as a landowner and his permanent freedom from slavery, Lee said.

The prospect of obtaining more details about the Banneker family -- which was relatively unique at the time because of its mixed-race heritage -- is one that excites Lee every time he thinks about it, he said.

"Just from DNA sampling, we could learn a lot about early American history, for us all," Lee said.

Lee said he hopes the new replica cabin will inspire visitors to continue supporting the museum as it works to delve ever deeper into Banneker's past.

"We're still a young museum," he said, "and we have much more to still do."

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