An Archeological Survey of the Proposed Flint River Greenway, Phase II, Albany, Georgia

An intensive archeological survey was conducted in early July 1999 in the area of potential effect for a 4-m-wide, 12.8-km-long bicycle path that extends from north of Albany to just south of downtown, along the east bank of the Flint River. Several large portions of the bicycle path run along paved streets and were not surveyed. Much of the off-road portion of the path follows existing woods roads, and about half the project area lies between a man-made berm and the river, an area subject to flooding and resultant scouring and deposition. The proposed path was intentionally designed to avoid potentially significant cultural and natural areas. To obtain a categorical exclusion from Section 404 permitting for the project, an archeological survey was needed to determine if significant sites (those eligible for the National Register of Historic Places) were present and would be affected. Three sites in the project area (9DU37, 9DU80 and 9DU83) had been previously recorded. The first two were recommended as eligible to the National Register and the third as not eligible, and we concur with this assessment. We conclude that the proposed bicycle path will not adversely affect these three sites. Our survey located seven additional sites (9DU123 - 9DU129), all of which are predominantly prehistoric artifact scatters and all but one of which we recommend as not eligible to the National Register. The recommended ineligible sites contain sparse and/or disturbed deposits that have little potential to contribute important new information on prehistoric lifeways. We recommend that site 9DU 128 is potentially eligible to the National Register under criterion d for the prehistoric component and criterion c for the historic component, which consists of an early twentieth century swimming pool used by the African-American community of Albany. It is our opinion that the proposed bicycle path will not adversely affect either the eligible (9DU37 and 9DU80) or potentially eligible (9DU128) sites. Therefore, we conclude that no significant archeological sites will be adversely affected by the proposed construction of the bicycle path.