New Harvest Road 46/25 kV Substation, Hall County, Georgia

This letter is our report of findings for an archeological survey we conducted on an approximately 2-ac tract of land upon which Georgia Transmission Corporation wishes to construct the above-referenced substation. Because the project is to be licenced by the Rural Utilities Service, compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, is required. This act stipulates that any undertaking that uses federal funds or requires federal licencing must take into account the effects of the undertaking on significant cultural resources. The first step in complying with this mandate is to conduct surveys to determine what cultural resources exist in the area of potential effect (APE). As this letter explains, the archeological survey we conducted on August 4, 2010 encountered no archeological resources in the APE for the project. Therefore, we conclude that the proposed undertaking, the construction of the New Harvest Road Substation and associated easements, will have no affect on significant archeological resources and should be granted clearance to proceed. The APE consists of a rectangular tract of land approximately 2 ac in size that partially straddles the Gainesville-Candler Area 46 kV transmission line on the south side of Gainesville in central Hall County (see Map 1). The APE also includes a 20 ft-wide access easement and a 10 ft wide easement for an underground cable (see Map 2). The project area was archeologically surveyed on August 4, 2010 by SAS senior archeologist Ron Schoettmer. The Georgia Archaeological Site Files shows that no sites are recorded in or close to the project area. The closest sites are a batch of ten sites located on the Elachee Nature Center about 1.2 km to the west and northwest. These sites were recorded by members of the Mountains Chapter of the Society for Georgia Archaeology in 2006 and the forms were completed by Chapter mentor Jack Wynn. Seven of these sites are within one mile of the project area and consist of four late nineteenth to early-twentieth house sites, two rock shelters and a prehistoric quartz quarry. Four of these sites were recommended eligible for the National Register, one as not eligible and two were of unknown eligibility status. There is no report on file for the survey that discovered these sites. The closest recorded archeological survey is one of3.5 miles of a proposed 50-ft wide sewer line corridor that terminated just 200m northeast of the project area (D'Angelo 2006). No archeological sites were located. Various maps and aerial photographs from 1936 through the 1964 show no structures in the APE. In particular the 1936 Soil Survey map of Hall County, a 1944 Soil Conservation Service aerial photograph (photo ATL-2C-11) and the 1964 USGS topographic map show no structures. Field inspection immediately revealed that much of the project area was heavily disturbed by earth moving activities. In particular, the proposed access road skirts along and through a large, shallow borrow pit that extends a short distance into the proposed substation tract (Map 2; Photograph 1 ). The northern third of the proposed substation tract is covered in fill dirt (Photograph 2). Most of the proposed substation tract within the Gainesville-Candler Area 4 kV transmission line corridor has been graded down several feet. The only undisturbed likely location for a site was a small ridge in the southern part of the tract just east of the transmission line I corridor, and two shovel tests excavated here were sterile (Map 2). While inspecting the proposed 10 ft-wide underground easement, several pieces of quartz were observed on the surface. While none were cultural artifacts, they were the type of quartz that was used by Native Ameri ans, and so three shovel tests, on 10-m intervals, were placed along this easement where the quartz was observed (Map 2). All three shovel tests were devoid of cultural material. In summary, archival research and intensive field investigation failed to locate any archeological resources (sites or artifacts) with the APE for the proposed New Harvest Road Substation project. We recommend that in regard to archeological resources the project be granted clearance to proceed with no further work.