Archeological Testing of Sites 9GE1685 and 9GE1711 on Reynolds Plantation, Greene County, Georgia

Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS) conducted archeological testing of two sites at Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee from December 1997 through February 1998. The sites were discovered by SAS in 1997 (Ledbetter 1998), during a survey of approximately 1860 acres of undeveloped Reynolds property in Greene and Putnam Counties, Georgia. The surveyed tracts included property already owned by Reynolds Plantation and property being acquired for future development. The area is located in the horseshoe bend or "bend" area of the Oconee River, and during the twentieth century the large tract was known as the Lingerlonger Plantation. The original survey and subsequent testing of the two sites was conducted to be in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. This Section 106 process was necessitated by Reynolds' need for a Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The intensive survey conducted by SAS recorded 165 field sites. The identified sites provide evidence of intensive utilization of the area during both the prehistoric and historic periods. The two sites examined in the present report are potentially eligible sites located in areas of Reynolds Plantation that are scheduled for development in the near future. The sites are an historic plantation complex (9GE1685) dating to the nineteenth century, and a rock pile site (9GE1711). They were investigated in order to firmly establish National Register eligibility status. Sites recommended as eligible retain substantial evidence of further research potential, and thus meet National Register criterion d. Site 9G1685 is recommended as eligible to the National Register as the result of field and archival information recovered during the testing phase. The testing of site 9GE1685 (Curtright Plantation complex) resulted in the identification of surface features including chimney mounds, rock piles and rock-lined terraces. Test pit excavation encountered preserved subsurface features containing artifacts associated primarily with the antebellum period. Structure locations were mapped extending along a ridge approximately one-quarter of a mile from a larger house platform identified from map sources as the John Curtright house. Site 9GE1711, a rock pile site, is recommended as ineligible because it lacks the research potential that would qualify it under National Register criterion d. Testing of the rock pile site showed it to be a natural rock outcrop. A sparse scatter of nineteenth century artifacts found near the rock outcrop was determined to be too disturbed for additional research. Preservation, data recovery, or a combination of the two alternatives is recommended for site 9GE1685. No additional work is recommended for site 9GE1711.