A Cultural Resources Survey for Proposed Olympic Beautification Landscape Enhancement and Street Improvements, Oglethorpe Avenue, Savannah, Georgia

Garrow & Associates, Inc. conducted a cultural resources survey within two sections of the Oglethorpe Avenue median in Savannah, Georgia for the City of Savannah during June 1994. The project is within the Savannah National Historic Landmark District (NHLD) (Figure 1). Landscape enhancement and other streetscape improvements are proposed, under a project funded by Interstate Surface Transportation Enhancement Assistance (ISTEA) through the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). The proposed construction requires a prior archaeological assessment survey for the purpose of identifying all historic anPlaces (NRHP), as defined in 36 CFR 800 and 36 CFR 60.4 (HOH Associates, Inc. 1994). Two, archaeological sites, 9CH795 and 9CH796, were defined by the survey. Site 9CH795 is located along the western portion of Oglethorpe Avenue and it contains a mixture of eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century artifacts. The site appears to contain features and buried strata with good integrity, and additional study of this site is recommended. Of particular interest is the eastern end of the site, which probably contains the remains of an eighteenth-century bastion and moat that protected Savannah from invaders during the mid eighteenth century. Archaeological testing is recommended for this site. Site 9CH796 contained a shallow mixed deposit of eighteenth- and nineteenth century artifacts with no potential for intact subsurface deposits. This site retains little integrity and is of minimal interpretive value. No additional work is recommended for this site.