Beaver Creek 46/25kV Substation, Houston County

At your request we conducted an intensive, Phase I archeological survey for the proposed expansion of the existing Beaver Creek 46/25 kV substation site in central Macon County (Figure 1, Photograph 1). This square, 0.92-ac, tract touches on State Route 49 on the east, is bordered by peach orchards on the north and south, and is separated from these orchards by a strip of trees on the west. The existing substation tract boundary is marked by fence lines on its north, south, and east sides. The western boundary lies within a strip of trees on the western edge of the tract. The majority of the tract is occupied by the existing substation in the center, as well as a communications tower enclosed by a chain link fence in the northwest tract corner.

Excepting the extreme edges, almost all of the ground within the tract has been altered by grading and filling to level the ground for the substation and communications tower, and landscaping to direct water flow away from them. The expansion of the tract consists of a narrow strip of ground on the southern edge of the existing tract (Figure 2). In general, the land is gently sloping towards the south and the east towards a sinkhole, or bay, located on the opposite (east) side of State Route 49. The bluff-edged Flint River flows north-south about 900 meters west of the substation.

Our survey was conducted by Southeastern Archeological Services' senior archeologist Joel Jones on July 9, 2012. Using a survey plat supplied by GTC, Mr. Jones plotted the location of his shovel tests (Figure 2). All six of the 30-cm diameter shovel tests were sterile. There were occasional ground surface exposures on and near the tract, but no artifacts or features were observed within the project area. Thus, no cultural resources were found on the subject tract.