Data Recovery Investigations of a Late Nineteenth-to-Early Twentieth-Century Rural Factory Worker House Site (9CO297) In North Georgia, Cobb County, Georgia

Site 9CO297 is a historic house site situated on an upland knoll in southern Cobb County, Georgia. It contains two house locations that served as living quarters for families who worked in the nearby Concord Woolen Mill. They are situated on a small knoll between Nickajack Creek and the Seaboard Railroad line. Of these two households, the deposits around the southern one survived recent timbering operations. It is this second structure which is investigated here. The study of site 9CO297 was necessitated by its impending destruction by construction of the proposed Cobb County East-West Connector. This site was delineated during a Phase I survey (Stoops 1991) and was later recommended to be potentially eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places after Phase II testing (Stoops and Holland 1991). Data recovery was chosen by the Cobb County Department of Transportation as the appropriate method for mitigating the adverse impact of road construction on this site. This house site is of interest as it exhibits some unique factors, not the least of which is the socioeconomic group it represents. The site area was purchased for the Concord Woolen Mill complex in 1881. The house itself appears to have been constructed for use by the mill workers. This socioeconomic group is one that has been ignored by historical documentation, and oftentimes is ignored by archaeological research. Investigation of this site gives an opportunity to examine the lifeways of this group. While the deposits have been subject to the usual suite of formation processes typical in an upland site in North Georgia, much of the extant patterning observed appears to relate to those patterns produced by the site occupants. Reconstructible and related materials occur in tight dusters. Another primary factor is the means of site abandonment. During its occupation, the house burned to the ground. This resulted in the deposition of the living system as it existed at a single moment in time. All materials were deposited in their original setting. The typical process of site abandonment, with its resultant disruption of context, was not a factor. Personnel from Garrow & Associates, Inc. performed excavations at 9CO297 from August 8 through September 19, and from October 7-9, 1991. At that time, a control grid was established over the site area. The site was excavated by five foot quadrants, each divided into four 2.5 x 2.5 foot quadrants, for a total of 304 2.5 x 2.5 foot units excavated. Of the material lasses counted, 47,736 artifacts were recovered. A considerable quantity of this material is glass, and much of the material from the house area is burned. Overall, the materials are representative of late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century domestic activities. The process of excavation and analysis of the contents of site 9CO297 constitutes a thorough documentation of its characteristics. The compilation of this documentation serves to mitigate the adverse impact of road construction over the site. Therefore, no further work is recommended for site 9CO297 and a finding of no adverse effect for the planned road construction is also recommended.