Cultural Resources Survey Proposed Calhoun-Gordon County Airport Runway Extension and Improvements Gordon County, Georgia

In January and July, 2001, R.S. Webb & Associates conducted a Phase I cultural resources survey of the proposed 14.2 hectares (35.0 acres) Calhoun-Gordon County airport runway extension and associated improvements site in Gordon County, Georgia. The runway extension tract is located adjacent to U.S. Highway 41, 3.2 kilometer (2 miles) south of the City of Calhoun, in Gordon County, Georgia. The project tract is bounded on the north by Salem Church Road and on the east by U.S. 41. The southern and the western boundaries consist of a series of flagged surveyor's stakes in a pasture, which extend from a fence line west of U.S. 41 to a fence line adjacent to Salem Church Road. No National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) listed resources are located within or adjacent to the project area. One previously recorded archeological site (9GO 132) and one historic structure (G0-42, the Payne House) are within the project tract. In addition to 9G0132, five previously unrecorded archeological sites (9G0226, 9G0227, 9G0228, 9G0229, and 9G0230) were identified in the project area as a result of the survey efforts. These sites are recommended ineligible for the NRHP. No additional cultural resources work is recommended for these locations. No previously unrecorded buildings, structures, or objects over 50 years old were identified within the Area of Potential Effects of the proposed undertaking. The Payne Farm, which includes the Payne House (G0-42), is recommended eligible for the NRHP under Criterion A (History-agriculture) at the local level of significance, as a good example of a working farm which has probably been in operation continuously from the antebellum period through the present. Implementation of the proposed project will result in adverse effects to the Payne Farm. Since preservation in-place of the Payne Farm is an infeasible management alternative, we recommend that the resource be documented by photography and additional archival research prior to project implementation. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) detailing mitigation measures for the Payne Farm should be established between the Calhoun-Gordon County Airport Authority, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer prior to initiation of the project. When the documentation is approved and stipulations of the MOA are satisfied, we recommend that project implementation inside the project tract boundaries be allowed to proceed.