An Archaeological Survey of Proposed Imporvements to Ashford Dunwoody Road at Nancy Creek Dekalb County

In late September 1999, Southeastern Archeological Services conducted an intensive archeological survey for a bridge replacement project on Ashford Dunwoody Road over Nancy Creek, in northwestern DeKalb County. The new bridge will be immediately west of the current bridge, and will require minor shifting of the road to meet the new bridge. The project area (area of potential effect) extends a maximum of 23 m from the edge of current pavement and overall project length is 640 m. However, only 230 m of this length involves new right-of-way. Archival research revealed that an archeological site (9DA347) is depicted at the intersection of Nancy Creek and Ashford Dunwoody Road, within the project area. However, the site form reveals that this is a surface collection reported by an amateur many decades ago, and the location of the site is actually vague, attributed to the vicinity of Harts Mill Road and Nancy Creek. A Georgia Historic Marker is present in the project area, marking Civil War troop movements (of General Dodge) and an encampment at Nancy Creek on July 17, 1864. Historic research indicates that the encampment took place on higher ground away from the creek, outside of the project area. The project area was visually examined and found to be entirely disturbed by grading, filling, ditching and landscaping associated with the construction of the road, driveways, utilities, and ball fields. Two shovel tests, one on each side of Nancy Creek, confirmed these observations. Fill is estimated to be over 2 m deep south of the creek. Although there was likely prehistoric and Civil War activity at or near the project area, the project area is too heavily disturbed to retain any trace of these activities. We conclude that there are no archeological sites in the area of potential effect for the project.