Historic Resources Survey and Assessment of the Proposed West Georgia Reservoir, Haralson County, Georgia

The historic resources survey of the proposed West Georgia Reservoir in Haralson County, Georgia, was conducted by Garrow & Associates, Inc., under contract to CH2M Hill. This work was performed to assist with compliance procedures specified in Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, as required for a federally funded, licensed, or permitted undertaking that has the potential to affect historic properties. Historic properties are defined as buildings, structures, objects, and sites that are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The Section 106 process involves identifying any historic properties within the area of potential effects (APE), assessing their eligibility for listing in the NRHP, evaluating the effect of the proposed undertaking, and recommending mitigation if adverse effects are determined. The federal undertaking that initiated this 106 process is the proposed construction of a reservoir in Haralson County that involves the impoundment of the Tallapoosa River and some of its tributaries. The proposed maximum flood pool would impound waters up to 1,020 feet above mean sea level. This compliance project is preliminary to the preparation of the Environmental Assessment and the application for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's Section 404 application and has been designed to assist in the preparation of these documents. Once the Environmental Assessment and Section 404 application are complete and a final reservoir size is determined, the effect of the reservoir on the identified properties should be reevaluated. If adverse effects are found, a memorandum of agreement should be prepared at that time. An APE was established based on the maximum flood pool of the reservoir and the perceived visual impact of the proposed project on the properties surrounding the reservoir. Twenty-one properties 50 years old or older were identified in the APE. Of these, one rural historic district, two properties and one structure are perceived as being eligible for the NRHP. The district, named the Tallapoosa River-Beach Creek Rural Historic District, incorporates 15 contributing properties in the APE. Additional historic properties are outside the APE. Although these additional properties were not surveyed, they were incorporated within the preliminary district boundary. Jeff Durbin, Environmental Review Coordinator, and Steven Moffson, Architectural Historian with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR) Historic Preservation Division, met with the Garrow staff in the field on September 25, 1996. During this visit, the possibility that the project APE contained a potential historic district was discussed. At the maximum flood pool, the effect of the reservoir to the historic district and the individually eligible properties and structure is expected to be adverse. In the case of the district, there would be physical destruction of buildings as well as changes to the historic landscape and land use patterns. If increased development pressure results from the construction of the reservoir, there would be indirect adverse effects to the historic setting as well. The NRHP-eligible property known as the Priest's House (HS-1/HL-18) may also contain NRHP-eligible archaeological deposits associated with the vanished town of Nitra that would be inundated by the reservoir. Visual effects to the property would alter NRHP-qualifying historic landscape features, and the property may be isolated from its setting as well if the road to the house is inundated. Increased development pressure on the surrounding area is expected to be an indirect adverse effect. Portions of the historic farmlands associated with the WimpeeWilson Farm (HS-16) would be inundated by the proposed reservoir. Increased development pressure is expected to affect this property as well. The Old Mize Bridge (HS-15) had been previously determined eligible for the NRHP by the Federal Highway Administration in consultation with the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer. This structure would be inundated by the impoundment, resulting in complete destruction.