Historic and Archaeological Assessment and National Register Evaluation of the Hitchiti Experimental Forest Administrative Site Jones County, Georgia

In May of 2009, Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., conducted historic and archeological investigations of the Hitchiti Experimental Forest Administrative Site in Jones County, Georgia. The results of these investigations and subsequent compilation of additional documentation were utilized in making determinations of National Register of Historic Places eligibility for the property. The Hitchiti Experimental Forest Administrative Site is an area of approximately 9.5 acres within the larger Hitchiti Experimental Forest. The property that in 1938 became the Piedmont Experimental Forest, and was shortly thereafter renamed Hitchiti, had originally been owned by the Thomas B. Holland family. The Holland home and a complex of outbuildings still stood on the property in 1938 but were demolished shortly thereafter to allow for construction of a residence/office. The small Thomas B. Holland Family Cemetery is located on the property approximately 60 meters northwest of the Assembly Hall. Today the Administrative Site consists of a variety of standing structures including two primary buildings: a dwelling constructed in 1940 as a residence/office and an Assembly Hall constructed in.1959. Other historic structures include a garage (ca. 1940), a pole shed (ca. 1957), a barbecue grill (ca. 1940s) and the Thomas B. Holland Family Cemetery (graves dating from 1884 to 1997). Upon examination and evaluation of the property, we recommend that the Hitchiti Experimental Forest Administrative Site is eligible for National Register listing under Criterion A (History), Criterion B (Persons) and Criterion C (Architecture).