The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) plans improvements to a section of State Route (SR) 53 between SR 211/Tanners Mill Road and Interstate 85 in Hall and Jackson counties (Project STP 00-0065-03[055]; PIN 132860). New South Associates, Inc. has completed a Phase I Archaeological Survey of the project corridor, which measures approximately 8.9 kilometers (5.5 mi.) long and 60 meters (200 ft.) wide. The total area in the area of potential effect (APE) measured roughly 59 hectares (138 acres). This report describes the objectives, methods, and results of this archaeological survey, provides evaluations concerning the significance of newly identified resources, and makes recommendations concerning further historic preservation work. A historic structures survey for this project was handled separately.
Background research for this project suggested the survey corridor had a potential for prehistoric and historic archaeological resources. Fieldwork indicated that much of the corridor was substantially disturbed as a result of past clearing and agriculture as well as modern land use. Six archaeological sites were identified along with four isolated finds, all of which reflected late nineteenth- to twentieth-century residential or farmstead occupations. Only Site 9JK284 was judged potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) because it might contain cultural features and deposits useful for studying turn-of-the-century domestic and farm life in rural Georgia. This site lies in a project corridor segment designated a potential historic resource because of the presence of historic buildings, and no new right-of-way (ROW) would be taken here. Therefore, the project would have no effect on this resource and no further preservation work is recommended for it.
The other five sites identified during the survey were disturbed as a result of demolition and/or prior road construction and they lack archaeological significance. Consequently, these sites are recommended not eligible for the NRHP, and they warrant no further preservation.
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