PHASE I ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY FOR THE PROPOSED WIDENING OF HARDY MCMANUS ROAD, COLUMBIA COUNTY, GEORGIA

Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc. (EPEI) has completed fieldwork for the Phase I archaeological survey for the proposed road widening of Hardy McManus Road in Columbia County. EPEI was contracted by Pond & Company (PND) to locate and evaluate archaeological resources within the Environmental Survey Boundary (ESB). The ESB is designed specifically to encompass all areas of possible/foreseeable ground disturbance as a result of the current project. When the design is complete, the project’s area of potential effect (APE) will likely be smaller than the ESB that is shown. Identified resources were then evaluated in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

The Phase I archaeological survey for the road widening project along the existing Hardy McManus Road for 3.2 miles, for a total survey coverage of 109 acres, in Columbia County resulted in negative findings. The proposed road widening project will be along the existing Hardy McManus Road corridor between William Few Parkway and State Route (SR) 28/Furys Ferry Road that will also include a 5-foot sidewalk on the north side and a 10-foot multiuse trail on the south side of Hardy McManus Road. During the record search, one previously recorded site, 9CB605, was located within the proposed survey area. This resulted in a revisit to 9CB605 to assess current conditions and National Register of Historic Places (NHRP) eligibility of the site.

Site 9CB605 is reported to be a multicomponent site of precontact and twentieth century material. The site was recorded in 2002 recorded by Rob Benson of Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. for the William Few Parkway Road extension and was recommended ineligible for the NRHP.

The site currently resides within the intersection of William Few Parkway and Hardy McManus Road, which was built after the site was discovered. Most of the site boundary is within the ESB of the proposed road widening project for Hardy McManus Road. The historic component of the site consisted of fragments of glass, brick, and ceramics. Other historic features noted were a driveway and a large oak tree stump. The precontact component consisted of one Coastal Plain chert reduction flake fragment found on the ground surface and one projectile point or knife tip located within a shovel test (Pluckhahn 2003; GASF 2002c). During the current revisit the area was surveyed and 15 short-interval negative shovel tests were excavated.

Based on EPEI’s survey results, the Phase I archaeological survey for the road widening project of Hardy McManus Road in Columbia County resulted in no new discoveries and a revisit to one previously recorded site, 9CB605; when revisited only the portions of the site boundary located in the ESB were reexamined. The site remains ineligible under Criterion D because no new archaeological components were identified during the present investigation.