Preliminary Archaeological Reconnaissance of Proposed Water and Wastewater Facilities Expansion, Chickamauga, Walker County, Georgia

In September, 1977, the Institute of Archaeology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, conducted a preliminary archaeological reconnaissance of the areas to be affected by the implementation of the proposed expansion and development of water and wastewater facilities in and around the town of Chickamauga, Walker County, Georgia at the request of Roy E. Parrish, Walker County Commissioner. The project was conducted under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey L. Brown, with the field investigations being completed by E. Raymond Evans. Expert opinion regarding major industrial and technological sites in the study area was provided by Robert Johnson. The subsequent report was prepared jointly by Evans and Brown. All work was conducted in accordance with the professional guidelines for such studies provided in "Criteria and Procedures for the Identification of Historic Properties,” National Park Service, Department of the Interior (36 CFR 64), drafted February 9, 1977.

Prior to the field reconnaissance all available historic documents, nineteenth century survey records and published histories relevant to the study area were checked. Data obtained from these sources were supplemented with interviews conducted with a number of selected area residents and property owners. All areas to be impacted by the implementation of the proposed facilities were then subjected to a visual reconnaissance of the surface. With one exception, to be noted below, the exact position of all proposed features outside the areas already developed was clearly marked. In those areas in which the proposed alignment did not follow exactly existing roads, the routes were covered by a pedestrian survey extending to a distance of approximately thirty yards on either side of the proposed alignment. The general terrain of the undeveloped areas consisted of open farm land with good surface visibility. In the area south of the existing wastewater treatment plant the exact alignment along West Chickamauga Creek and the route leading to the plant have not yet been determined. Here, the surface reconnaissance was extended to cover approximately one hundred yards on either side of the creek.

No subsurface testing was undertaken at this time, and no cultural materials were collected. All cultural resources noted in the study area will be described in detail below with specific assessments and recommendations being made for those sites which may be impacted by the implemention of the proposed water and wastewater facilities. While it should be noted that this reconnaissance and subsequent inventory of sites does not by and of itself constitute mitigation of cultural resources under the provisions of the federal legislation which created the National Register of Historic Places, any decision concerning additional investigations of the cultural resources described herein will be made by the appropriate state and federal officials.