Archaeological Investigations of the University of Georgia’s Iron Horse Farm, Greene and Oconee Counties, Georgia

The University of Georgia acquired the 658-acre Iron Horse Farm (formerly known as the Curtis Farm) in 2013 with the intent to use it as an educational and experimental farm for the University’s College of Agriculture. The tract, located mostly in northern Greene County but extending slightly into southern Oconee County, straddles State Route 15 and partly borders the Oconee River. Artifacts recovered by archaeologists in the 1930s indicated that Indians had been utilizing the tract for about 10,000 years, most intensively during the Late Mississippian period, from about A.D. 1250 to A.D. 1520, when the nearby Scull Shoals Indian mounds were constructed. After European colonization, the tract became part of a large plantation, owned and developed in the early nineteenth century by Peter Early, who became a U.S. Congressman, Governor of Georgia and trustee of the University of Georgia. The tract was integrally associated with the very early industrial community of Scull Shoals, located directly across the Oconee River from the tract.

As the University began to develop the property in 2015, Southeastern Archeological Services was contracted to conduct a review of archaeological research, historic archival research, immediate survey of critical construction areas, later survey of all anticipated areas of construction/earth disturbance, archaeological testing of five sites to determine their significance, and the preparation of a comprehensive final report that would present all the data gathered and make recommendations for the protection of significant archaeological and historic resources on the tract. This field and archival research work was conducted from August 2015 through August 2017 and this document is the final report of our findings. Including the ten archaeological sites recorded in the 1970s, there are now 33 known and documented sites on the Iron Horse Farm property, plus several historic period features. It is important to realize that only areas that were to be developed have been archaeologically surveyed, and that there are almost certainly more sites on the tract. The documented sites span the full range of human occupation of the area, from the Late PaleoIndian period to the mid-twentieth century. The most intensive use of the tract was during the Late Mississippian period and Historic period. Archaeological testing showed that some sites contain intact, sub-plowzone features and are significant for their ability to yield important information on the history and prehistory of the area. In this report we recommend that three sites are known to be significant (eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places), 15 sites are known to be not significant (not eligible) and 15 are of unknown significance, pending further work. In addition, we recommend that several historic period landscape features in the northern portion of the tract (a canal, quarry, and stone bridge pier) be protected from disturbance. Thus, we recommend that 18 sites and three features warrant protection from earth disturbing activities until they can be further archaeologically assessed. Furthermore, we recommend that areas not yet archaeologically surveyed be protected from earth disturbing activity (not including normal farming tasks, such as plowing) until an archaeological survey is conducted. Large scale digital maps showing the location of the significant sites and features and the areas requiring archaeological survey in advance of development activity have been submitted to the University of Georgia’s Office of University Architects for Facilities Planning. These maps should be consulted well prior to any proposed non-farming land disturbing activities.