CULTURAL RESOURCE SURVEY PROPOSED CELL TOWER SITE Trileaf # 641344/ “Indian Island”

In June 2018, Trileaf Corporation (Trileaf) performed a cultural resource inventory survey for a proposed raw land self-support tower site located at 860 E Highway 24, Milledgeville, Baldwin County, Georgia, at coordinates 33°00’12.497” N, 83°05’11.658” W. The proposed project lease area consists of a pine plantation, and a proposed access/utility easement currently occupied by a pine plantation and existing dirt and gravel drive. 

Tillman Infrastructure proposes the construction of a new self-support cell tower with a total height of 315 feet (96 meters). The new tower and associated equipment will be located in a proposed approximate 100-foot by 100-foot (31-meter by 31-meter) cell tower lease area. A proposed approximate 30-foot by 1,000-foot (9 -meter by 305-meter) access/utility easement will connect the proposed lease area to Georgia State Route 24 to the southeast. The new tower will occupy approximately 0.92 acres (0.37 hectares) of land.

Under the direction of Trileaf, Staff Archaeologist Andrew Wright, MA, RPA performed this survey in response to the planned use of the above-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 all cultural resources that might be present within the project area. 

Trileaf requested information concerning previously discovered archaeological sites within the direct APE and the ¾-mile APE for visual effects from Georgia Archaeological Site File (GASF). A records search indicated there were four previously recorded archaeological sites, (GASF# 9BL197, 9BL198, 9BL199, 9BL200), and five previously recorded archaeological surveys (GASF# 1749, 1990, 2704, 3729, 4366) located within the tower’s visual APE. 9BL199 and 9BL200 consist of prehistoric lithic scatters. 9BL197 and 9BL198 are multicomponent sites consisting of lithic scatters and recovered 19th to 20th material. All lack formal determinations of National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility but were recommended ineligible by their recorders. No archaeological resources or surveys were identified within the APE for direct effects.

The field survey of the project area, which included a pedestrian survey, shovel testing, and visual inspection, found no evidence for the presence of archaeological or architectural properties in relation to the current project area or within a 30-foot (9.1-meter) boundary within the direct area of potential effects (APE). 

A search of Georgia’s Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS) and the Georgia Historic Preservation Division (GAHPD)’s archives revealed one NRHP-listed property within the ¾ -mile APE for visual effects, Major Francis Boykin House (“Boykin Hall” NRIS# 78000959) No historic properties were identified within the APE for direct effects.

In keeping with GAHPD’s request that structures lacking formal determinations of eligibility be evaluated in the field, Trileaf identified two structures without formal determinations of eligibility within the visual APE: GNAHRGIS ID# 649678 and 662956. Structures 649678 and 662956 do not possess exceptional characteristics that would make them eligible for the NRHP under Criterion C as determined by field survey. 

Due to intervening vegetation, the proposed tower will not be visible from any of the above structures or historic property. A similarly-sized existing self-support tower approximately 1,000 feet (305 meters) northwest of the project location is not visible from the structures or historic property.

Based on the results of this survey, Trileaf recommends a finding of No Historic Properties in the direct APE and No Adverse Effect within the visual APE. It is recommended that project clearance be granted with no further investigation or evaluation of the project area.