Archeological Delineation of the Graham Cemetery

Don Williams Home Builders, Inc. is presently constructing a housing subdivision, called Park Place, on a ca. 58 acre tract of land in the northeast portion of the city of Winder (Figure 1). The tract contains a known, marked cemetery that has been referred to as the Graham Cemetery. The City requested that an archeological survey of the cemetery be conducted, as required by Georgia Code Section 36-72-5(2). This code section stipulates that a report be prepared by an archeologist stating the number and location of graves present as can be determined by minimally invasive techniques. In the Piedmont, such techniques usually consist of probing for the less compact soil of grave shafts with a three-foot long solid metal probe. This technique was used for this project, but with partially ambiguous results. Nonetheless, the primary goal of delineating the cemetery, and in particular its outer edges, was achieved. The developers have intended from the beginning to avoid the cemetery and not move any graves. Thus, the primary goal of the delineation was to firmly establish the cemetery boundaries. Less emphasis was placed on actually locating every grave within the boundary. The cemetery will be at a comer of two subdivision roads, so the extent of it toward these roads, to the south and west, were especially critical. The roads had already been roughed in at the time of the survey, November 22, 1995. Archeologists Chad Braley and Thomas Gresham met Ms. Kelli Smith, representative of developer Rusty Williams, at the cemetery site. She provided them with a plat map and showed them key property lines.