Archeological Survey of the Proposed Warm Springs/ Talbotton Road Widening Project Columbus-Muscogee County, Georgia

This intensive archeological survey of the proposed widening of a 3.2 km (2.0 mi) length of Talbotton/Warm Springs Road in downtown Columbus resulted in the documentation of historic resources that once existed in the project area and the documentation of the current heavy development of the corridor. Close visual inspection guided by copies of various nineteenth and twentieth century maps and aerial photographs, coupled with the excavation of a small number of shovel tests, allowed an assessment of the archeological potential of the project area. The maps and other archival sources had provided a very clear and detailed record of what structures once existed along Talbotton/Warm Springs Road (formerly the Federal Road or Stage-Coach Road). To greatly simplify, large houses on sizable estates began appearing in the vicinity of the project corridor in the mid-1800s. The western portion of the project area, one of Columbus' first suburbs, is still known by its historic name, Rose Hill. Gradually, more modest houses and a few stores were built to the east, and a concentration of stores and housing developed around several textile mills near the five points intersection with 12th Avenue in the early twentieth century. A key issue in this project has been the definition of "archeological site", which is a difficult term to define in an urban, sprawling, heavily developed area. Defining a site as the locus of human activity that occurred more than 50 years ago and which has maintained reasonably good archeological integrity, we encountered no archeological sites in the project area. To be sure, Talbotton/Warm Springs Road is one of the oldest roads in Columbus and was formerly lined with structures, mostly houses, that were built more than 50 years ago. However, virtually all traces of this past have been destroyed by twentieth century development. Much of the material remains from the early history of the area, mainly the houses on large estates that existed along the road and in the Rose Hill district, were well off of the road and were never in or near the narrow project corridor. Most structures close to the road are of late nineteenth to early twentieth century construction. All but five of the structures adjacent to the road have been totally obliterated by late twentieth century grading, construction, and paving. The remaining standing structures are well maintained, utilized structures that may have architectural significance, but do not have archeological potential. We conclude that no significant archeological resources, i.e., resources eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under criterion d, exist in the proposed project area. Therefore, none will be adversely affected by the proposed widening of Talbotton/Warm Springs Road from 7th Avenue to Hilton Avenue.