Archaeological Investigations of Lands of the Bay Colony Property Company

Based on available historic topographic, and archeological data, it had been hypothesized that archeological evidence for the southwest bastion of the Frederica town wall remained under, and in the vicinity oft the Yacht Club ruins located in the northwestern corner of the Bay Colony Property Company, Inc. tract of land which adjoins the southern boundary of Fort Frederica National Monument. In construction of the Yacht Club, the area surrounding it had been graded level and otherwise disturbed. For this reason, elevations which elsewhere surrounded the town site, evidencing the ramparts of the town wall, had been leveled; and the depressions, which elsewhere evidenced the ditches, had been filled. As no discernible evidence for the bastion remained and as there were no available historic maps detailed enough to allow for its precise location, it was decided to speed excavation of the test trenches by using mechanical equipment. Initial approval for carrying out the investigations was granted by Bay Colony Property Company, Inc., on January 25, 1983. A meeting between representatives of the company and the National Park Service was held on site February 11 1983; and a listing of conditions under which the work would be done was prepared on February 17, 1983. The fieldwork was done between March 7 and March 11, 1983, with a backhoe being used for test trench excavation. Five trenches were dug. Two of these, one which was some 105 feet in length and a second which was some 35 feet in length were located to the north and east of the Yacht Club ruins; a third, which was about 40 feet long, was north and west of the ruins; a fourth, approximately 40 feet long, was directly west of the ruins; and the fifth, about 67 feet long, was to the south. All were approximately three feet in width and five feet in depth. Soil discolorations indicative of the filled ditches that bordered the southeast and southwest sides of the bastion were found in the walls of the two trenches located to the north and east of the ruins, but no evidence of them was been in any of the other trenches. For this reason, it is assumed that the southernmost junction of the bastion ditches is located under the ruins. Acquisition of property encompassing the archeological evidence for the southwest bastion is recommended because the bastion was an integral part of the Frederica town fortifications and, as such, is historically significant and worthy of interpretation.