Phase I Cultural Resource Survey of the Durand Mill Property, Lots 4 and 52, Dekalb County, Georgia

This report documents the results of the Phase I archaeological survey investigations conducted within the proposed 34 acre Blair and Chewning, Inc., construction site in DeKalb County, Georgia. This research was conducted by Garrow & Associates, Inc. under contract with Blair and Chewning, Inc. The Phase I field investigations were completed in the project area by Geraldine E. Baldwin and Shelley A. Stevens from August 11 to August 12 and on August 17, 1992. All potentially archaeologically sensitive areas were identified and examined by a combined systematic pedestrian walkover and subsurface shovel testing program during these investigations. Excavation of 78 shovel test pits and the pedestrian walkover revealed nineteenth-century deposits; however, intact deposits were not identified. The historical research conducted during the pre-fieldwork phase of this project indicated that early structures existed on the project area which were associated with the Durand Mill complex. However, this site has been severely altered during the past century by continued use and by improvements made to the property, including the recent demolition of the farmhouse and adjacent structures. The Phase I investigations did not reveal intact cultural deposits relating to this period and a literature search conducted at the Georgia State Site Files did not locate evidence of any previously recorded archaeological sites in the project area. This report recommends that this site be considered ineligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and that no further cultural resource investigations be conducted prior to the proposed construction.