Historical and Archaeological Investigations at the Planned Federal Building Site, Savannah, Georgia

In November 1979, Inter-Agency Archeological Services-Atlanta (IAS), requested proposals from interested and qualified businesses for a literature search and archaeological testing of portions of three blocks in the Historic District of Savannah, Georgia. The project area is proposed as the site for a new federal office building. On December 21, 1979, Cultural Resource Services Inc. (CRS) responded to this request for a proposal and was chosen as the contractor to conduct the investigations. The research area as defined by the Scope of Work included portions of downtown Savannah bounded on the north by State Street, on the east by Whitaker Street, on the south by Oglethorpe Avenue, and on the west by Barnard Street and Telfair Square (Figure 1). Portions of this area were still occupied by structures during the testing program, while the remainder of the four blocks consisted of parking lots surfaced with either gravel or asphalt. Plans for the four block area called for demolition of standing buildings with a single exception and the construction of a federal building and associated parking structure. The new facility would provide space for the Corps of Engineers and ten other government agencies presently housed in general purpose leased locations. The proposed construction will provide approximately 173,000 square feet of office space and about 99,000 square feet for parking, It is expected that the office building will be four to seven stories high and the parking facility will include three or four levels. An area of 90,000 square feet will be necessary to accommodate both of these facilities. The original schedule for the archaeological testing of the study area required that the contractor begin fieldwork on or about February 15, 1980, and that all fieldwork be completed by March 15, 1980. Since the General Services Administration was delayed in acquiring certain properties located within the study area, Cultural Resource Services, Inc. did not receive authorization to proceed on this project until July 1, 1980. CRS crews visited the site on June 30, 1980 and fieldwork was begun on July 1, 1980. This report documents the results of the archaeological testing program, conducted at the study site from July 1 to July 8, and the literature search which accompanied the archaeological program.