In October 2018, Trileaf Corporation (Trileaf) performed a cultural resource survey for a proposed monopole telecommunications tower facility to be built on raw land at Martin Road, Oglethorpe, Macon County, Georgia (32° 20’ 01.27” N, 84° 04’ 03.07” W). The project is subject to permitting by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and thus requires review under Section 106 of the National Preservation Act. This report is submitted in compliance with the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for Review Under the National Historic Preservation Act (NPA, FCC 2005) and its applicable appendices and amendments. Further information relating to the project is included in the FCC Collocation Submission Packet, Form 620.
Verizon Wireless, Trileaf’s client, proposes the construction of a 199-foot (61 meter) overall height monopole telecommunications tower at the described location. The tower and associated equipment will be housed in a proposed 100-foot by 100-foot (30-meter by 30- meter) lease area. A proposed 30-foot by approximately 100-foot combined (9-meter by approximately 30-meter) access/utility easement will connect the lease area with Martin Road to the southwest. The facility will occupy approximately 0.30 acres (0.12 hectares).
Under the direction of Trileaf, Senior Project Archaeologist Andrew Wright, M.A., RPA conducted this survey in response to the planned use of the described parcel and the potential impacts that such use might represent to archaeological and architectural cultural resources. The Phase I cultural resource survey was designed to discover any cultural resources that might be present within the project area.
An information request from the Georgia Archaeological Site File (GASF) inventory revealed no previously recorded archaeological sites or surveys within a half-mile radius of the proposed tower. The field survey of the project area, which included pedestrian survey and systematic shovel testing, found no evidence for the presence of archaeological resources within the project’s direct area of potential effect (APE).
A search of Georgia’s Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS), the Georgia Historic Preservation Division (GAHPD)’s archival inventory, and the National Register of Historic Places revealed no NRHP-listed or eligible properties within the project’s direct or visual APE. No surveyed historic resources lacking formal determinations of eligibility were identified within the direct or visual APE.
Trileaf found No Historic Properties within the Direct or Visual APE as a result of this investigation. It is recommended that project clearance be granted with no further investigation or evaluation of the project area.
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