Cultural Resources Assessment of the Tiger Creek Channel Improvements Corridor Fort Benning Military Reservation Muscogee, Georgia

A compliance-level cultural resources assessment was conducted in March and June of 1993 for a 4.3-acre tract along Tiger Creek scheduled for channel improvements by the City of Columbus, Georgia. The eastern portion of the project area is within the boundaries of the Fort Benning Military Reservation. The assessment included a literature review and an intensive field survey of the project area to identify resources that are eligible or potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The work was conducted in order to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act and Fort Benning cultural resources regulations. No cultural resources were located during surface examination and shovel testing of the project area. Approximately 75 percent of the project tract is within the active floodplain of Tiger Creek while the remainin 25 percent occurred within an area of low ridge ends in the northeastern portion of the project area. Based on the literature review and past experience in the project vicinity, the low ridge ends have moderate potential for yielding cultural resources while the active floodplain has low potential for resources. In the northwestern section of the project tract, disturbance due to residential development further decreases the probability for locating significant cultural resources. The cultural resource findings are consistent with the general prehistoric and historic patterns for the region. With the exception of the northeastern protion of the project area, the factors of an intermittently-flowing creek in conjunction with low-lying area significantly decreases the potential for prehistoric resources. In addition, the probability for historic resources is low since no structures were noted in the project vicinity until the 1980s. Based on the findings of the assessment, cultural clearance is recommended for the Tiger Creek Channel Improvement corridor.