Phase I Archaeological Survey of SR 9 Widening Project, Forsyth and Fulton Counties, Georgia

Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc. (EPEI) conducted a Phase I archaeological survey for the widening of State Route (SR) 9 from Windward Parkway to SR 20 in Fulton and Forsyth counties, Georgia (Georgia Department of Transportation [GDOT] P.I. Nos. 0007838, 0007843, 0007844, 0008357, and 121690; HP No. 070129-002) during July and August, 2015, and February 2017.

The work was completed under a contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. The GDOT project includes the widening of SR 9 from Windward Parkway in Fulton County to SR 20 in Forsyth County. The existing SR 9 corridor consists primarily of two travel lanes with a variable right-of-way (ROW) width between 70 and 200 feet along the corridor. The proposed ROW width would vary between 75 and 210 feet. The total length of the project corridor for P.I. Nos. 0007838, 0007843, 0007844, 0008357, and 121690 is approximately 13 miles. Along the corridor, the shoulders vary between urban with sidewalks, curb-and-gutter, and rural grassed shoulders. The proposed typical section would provide four travel lanes separated by a variable width raised median, and include either 5-foot sidewalks or an 8 to 12-foot multi-use trail and urban shoulders.

A more detailed project description is presented in Chapter I of this report.

The survey area for P.I. Nos. 0007838, 0007843, 0007844, and 0008357 consists of the combined Area of Potential Effect (APE) and a 100-foot expanded survey corridor (ESC) for the project. The APE for P.I. 121690 for the current study consists only of additional survey area that was added to project design since 2008. The ESC for P.I. 121690 was waived via an email dated June 26, 2015 by GDOT Archaeologist Jim Pomfret because the project was previously surveyed in 2007 and 2008 prior to the adoption of the ESC for archaeological survey, and was therefore grandfathered in. This report presents a record of the Phase I investigation which was conducted in order to locate and evaluate archaeological resources potentially affected by the project.

Prior to fieldwork, background research into the archaeology and history of the project’s environs was conducted in order to establish a context by which site significance could be evaluated. A review of the Georgia Archaeological Site File (GASF) and Georgia’s Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS) indicated that 16 previously recorded archaeological sites are within a 1-kilometer radius of the project area. One of the 16 sites, 9FU294, has portions that fall within the ESC for the current survey. Subsequent field investigation, which included pedestrian survey, systematic shovel testing, and metal detecting of historic archaeological resources, resulted in the discovery of three new archaeological sites, 9FU686, 9FO577, and 9FO578, which date to the Historic period. Also recorded was the Midway United Methodist Church Cemetery, 9FO579, which contains interments from the 1830s through the present.