In early May of 2000 and March of 2005, Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., surveyed the proposed Villa Rica bypass. Six sites, consisting of the remnants of four nineteenth to twentieth century houses and two gold mines were recorded during the survey. Management information is presented in Table 1.
As noted, one of the resources, the Clopton goldmine, is recommended eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Gold was discovered in this part of Carroll County in the 1830s, and is the main reason for Villa Rica's existence. The Clopton mine is well preserved and will be bisected by the proposed bypass. A very small portion of the second goldmine, the Chambers mine, will be affected by the improvement of the intersection of Industrial Boulevard and Rockmart Road. Due to previous disturbance (road construction and industrial development) this resource has poor integrity. While the overall eligibility of tl1e entire site is unknown, the portion of the mine that will be affected does not contribute to the overall significance of the rest of the site.
The remaining sites are late nineteenth to early twentieth century house sites that are generally well preserved. Despite good integrity, they are recommended ineligible to the NRHP due to low research potential.
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