Phase 1 Archaeological Survey of the Athens Rail to Trail Clarke County, Georgia

New South Associates conducted a Phase I Archaeological Survey for the Athens Rail to Trail corridor in Clarke County, Georgia, under subcontract to O'Brien and Gere. The project corridor consists of approximately 1.02 miles of abandoned CSX railroad corridor with a 30-meter (100foot) right-of-way, extending between the intersections with Old Winterville Road and East Broad Street. This rail corridor was established and built in 1883 as a Georgia Railroad spur to connect central Athens to the main line at Junction City. Fieldwork consisted of a pedestrian walkover of the abandoned rail bed and shovel testing of two transects. In addition, three shovel tests and one stratigraphic profile unit were excavated to provide information about the soil profile and construction of the rail bed. The project resulted in the identification of one newly recorded site, 9CA175, consisting of the entire portion of the track bed within the current study Area of Potential Effect, including site furniture, cut and fill locations, remnant structures, individual artifact occurrences (pharmaceutical bottle, railroad spike), and spent railroad tie dumps. Sections of this site extend beyond the current survey area but were not examined or evaluated for this project. At present, the main component of the site consists of the track bed, formed by making grade improvements along the length of the corridor. Track and ties have been removed, as have important associated features, such as the bridge over the Oconee River and part of the trestle at Trail Creek. The survey documented cut and fill episodes used to create track bed, indicating the use of homogeneous red clay to raise the bed grade approximately eight meters in order to match the elevations of the bridge and trestle spanning the Oconee River and Trail Creek. The site was delineated and assessed for National Register of Historic Places eligibility in accordance with Georgia Railroad contexts sponsored by the Georgia Historic Preservation Division. A separate Historical Structures Survey for this project concluded that the site and associated structures, such as the trestle over Trail Creek, were eligible under Criteria A and C (Olson 2009). This archaeological survey focused on evaluating the archaeological significance (Criterion D) of Site 9CA175 within the project area. The survey documented construction techniques associated with the track bed, and found they were typical of the methods and materials used for railroad development throughout Georgia. The site segment within the project ROW does not exhibit any unique or innovative engineering or technological processes and it has a low potential to provide important archaeological data. While the site's overall NRHP eligibility under Criterion D has not been evaluated, this segment of Site 9DA175 does not contribute to any archaeological significance the site might have.