PHASE I ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF I-85 AT SR 138/JONESBORO ROAD INTERCHANGE RECONSTRUCTION AND WIDENING, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA

A Phase I archaeological survey was conducted between July 2015 and June 2018 of the proposed Interstate (I-) 85 at State Route (SR) 138 Jonesboro Road interchange widening and reconstruction by Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc. (EPEI) for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Project No. CSNHS-0007-00(842), P.I. No. 0007842, HP No. 150629-001. The proposed project would consist of reconstructing the existing interchange and corridor improvements. The area of potential effect (APE) and an expanded survey corridor (ESC) were originally established based on earlier plans dating to August 19, 2015, and the most recent plans, which required additional survey in June 2018, are dated May 30, 2018. The APE includes the maximum amount of existing and proposed right-of-way (ROW) and easements indicated in plans received from WSP |Parsons Brinckerhoff (WSP). EPEI archaeology staff also surveyed a 100-foot (30-meter) ESC in accordance with GDOT’s Environmental Procedures Manual (EPM). The combined APE and ESC will hereafter be referred to as the survey area.

Prior to the commencement of fieldwork, a review of the Georgia Archaeological Site File (GASF) and Georgia’s Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS) database was completed. These data indicated that no previously identified archaeological sites have been located in the survey area of the current study. One previously recorded site was reported to be located within 1 kilometer of the survey area. Site 9FU110 is a Precontact period lithic surface scatter that was recorded about 600 meters south of the current survey area. Fieldwork included visual inspection, systematic and judgmental shovel testing, metal probing, and ground penetrating radar (GPR).

The current survey resulted in the identification of one historic site that includes a cemetery, Harmony Grove Cemetery, and an artifact scatter associated with a former church located between the road and the burials. The location of the two sections of the resources are on a single parcel and reflect a single community and therefore are included as one archaeological site.

The Harmony Grove Cemetery, recorded as 9FU744, is located southwest of the intersection of SR 138/Jonesboro Road and Lester Road in Union City, Georgia. Roughly 70 percent of the cemetery falls within the APE and ESC. No marked graves are in the APE. Multiple marked interments are in the ESC. There are marked graves located on roughly .35 acres of the 1.6 acre parcel. Some of the graves are marked with simple field stones and additional stones were located in other wooded or open portions of the parcel in the APE and ESC. Some of these field stones were within the ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey grids but appear to be stones associated with the church that once stood in the area or are perhaps from a landscape feature. There was no clear association between one of these stones and a potential unmarked grave location identified through GPR. Shovel testing in the area between the visible interments and SR 138/Jonesboro Road resulted in Phase I Archaeological Survey of I-85 at SR 138/Jonesboro Road Interchange: Reconstruction and Widening, Fulton County, Georgia a single positive shovel test and, combined with surface collected artifacts, are interpreted as the remnants of a former church location of the same name as the cemetery. The dates of interment listed on markers at the site range from 1888 to 2013. There were no unmarked burials between marked graves and SR 138/Jonesboro Road indicated from surface inspection and aerial photography. However, based on the results of the GPR survey, twenty-six anomalies evidenced disturbed soil that may indicate the presence of unmarked graves. Further, two of these anomalies are located in the APE and 24 are in the ESC.

The Harmony Grove Cemetery (9FU744) was evaluated in the Historic Resources Survey Report (HRSR) (EPEI 2015) for the current project and recommended as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criterion C at the local level of significance in the areas of architecture and landscape architecture as a good and representative example of a rural cemetery. Additionally, EPEI recommends that the archaeological investigation of site 9FU744 provided evidence of significant data potential in the diversity of grave markers and their likely association with multiple socioeconomic statuses represented in the cemetery, as well as the layout of the marked and unmarked graves, which could yield data on the social structure of the community through time. Based on the identification of probable grave shafts in the cemetery and its intact historic layout, the site also retains integrity. EPEI therefore recommends that site 9FU744 is eligible for the NRHP under Criterion D on the local level. EPEI recommends that the area containing potential burials within the APE be avoided. In addition, the entirety of the site, including the potential burials, should be designated as a environmentally sensitive area (ESA) and be avoided during construction activities.