An Archeological and Architectural Historical Survey of the Proposed South Dalton Bypass, Whitfield County, Georgia

This report addresses the results of an archeological and architectural historical survey of a 4.75 mile planned bypass corridor located to the south and east of Dalton, Georgia. This work was undertaken for Whitfield Engineers under a contract with the Whitfield County Government, and was required to address compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, as stipulated by the requirements of US Army Corps of Engineers permitting. The survey revealed that the entire route of the corridor had been subjected to a variety a ground-disturbing activities, including historic agriculture, modern timbering, the excavation of borrow pits, and the removal of modern (post 1960s) housing. Agricultural and silvicultural activities had fostered a severe degree of erosion across the entire corridor, and very restricted soil horizons were exposed by the shovel test excavations. A single cultural isolate, represented by a fragment of machine-made brick and a single piece of plain late refined earthenware, was the only archeological resource discovered by the survey. This archeological isolate is not considered to be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The architectural historical survey indicated that the corridor would have no direct impact on historic structures. All of the structures which were located within the corridor were of less than 50 years in age, and hence do not warrant consideration as historic structures. A visual impact assessment of the corridor was made with the assistance of Ms. Mary (Missy) McLeod, Historic Preservation Planner with the North Georgia Regional Development Center (RDC). This assessment indicated that nine structures of greater than 50 years in age would be within view of the bypass corridor. However, all of these structures had either been modified or were deteriorated, and all were situated in landscapes whose historic integrity had already been compromised by modern development. Thus, none of these structures would appear to be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, and furthermore the planned bypass will not compromise the current visual integrity of any of these structures. Therefore, it is our recommendation that the corridor will not present any visual impact to historic structures. This recommendation is supported by the Georgia RDC. We thus recommend that the project be allot proceed without further cultural resource considerations.