An Archeological Survey of the Proposed Railroad Street Streetscape Improvements, Canton, Georgia

In late May, 2002, Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., conducted a Phase I archeological survey of proposed street scape improvements to Railroad Street, within the city limits of Canton, Georgia. The Georgia Department of Transportation has proposed the improvements as part of the Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) Study, which strives to redevelop existing city lands into thriving community centers. Railroad Street, which consists of a north-south running two-lane roadway with no existing sidewalks, is the main corridor through Canton's LCI study area. The Railroad Street Pedestrian Improvements Project will provide a pedestrian facilities along the 2300 ft (701 m) extent of Railroad Street from Waleska Street to East Marietta Street. The improvements will include: sidewalk replacement and construction of curb and gutter, landscaping, street and pedestrian level lighting, parallel parking, pedestrian crosswalks and intermittent realignment of the roadway. The goal of the survey was to locate, describe and evaluate archeological resources within the area of potential effect for the proposed project, so that potential effects to those resources could be evaluated in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The area of potential effect includes both permanent and temporary construction easements along the entire length of the project area. The easements vary in width, reaching a maximum of 80 ft (24 m) from the existing roadway but typically extending only around 24 ft (6.1 m) from the edge of the road. Archival research indicated that no archeological sites had been documented in the project area prior to our survey. Inspection of old aerial photographs indicated that a only a few structures were present along Railroad Street in 1938, but that many had been built by 1960 (most of these are still standing). Our field survey recorded one archeological site (9CK1150), a scatter of historic artifacts representing the former location of one or more late nineteenth and twentieth century structures. We recommend that 9CK1150 is ineligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places because it is unlikely to yield important information on the history of the area (National Register criterion d). Therefore, we conclude that the proposed construction will not adversely affect any significant archeological resources.