Archaeological Testing in the New Manchester Mill, Sweetwater Creek State Park, Georgia

The New Manchester Mill archaeological testing project began on August 5, 1993 and was completed on August 21, 1993. The mill is located at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Douglas County, Georgia and the project was supported by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The test excavation was carried out through The A.J. Waring, Jr. Archaeological Laboratory of West Georgia College, Carrollton, Georgia. The principal investigator, Morgan R. Crook, Jr., was assisted in the field by one field supervisor and 3 students on a part-time basis; a total of 202 person-hours of labor was expended in the field work. The purpose of the testing was to determine the archaeological integrity and potential of the area inside of the mill. This information is required for prediction of the effects of proposed construction of stabilizing framework footings on subsurface archaeological remains. An associated objective of the archaeological testing was to locate and identify floor remains of the structure. The level of existing disturbance within the mill interior was evaluated to determine whether or not significant archaeological information would be lost due to proposed construction impacts within the mill. The original research proposal planned for the placement of a test pit measuring 10-feet square. The dimensions were changed to 8 feet by 10 feet in order to avoid several large, live tree stumps and their associated root systems that would have made excavation and interpretation very difficult. The decision to place the test pit in the southeastern corner of the mill was made after examining the engineering sketches for the proposed structural support system. The unit was positioned in an area that would be destroyed by construction of proposed footings for scaffolding. This test pit location coincided with an area of minimal surface rubble of bricks fallen from the adjacent walls (Plate 1). The testing resulted in the identification of the original ground surface within the mill structure as well as associated features. Artifacts recovered were characteristic of the type that would be expected in a textile mill of the pre-Civil War period. These included small machinery parts, structural hardware and textiles along with much structural debris (see complete catalog listings and proveniences in Appendix A). The artifacts recovered were consistent with the written and oral history of the mill. There were large amounts of charcoal in all levels above the original ground surface, which would indicate a substantial fire in the structure. Local residents have stated that the large metal objects associated with the structure and machinery were removed from the mill during World War II for the recycling effort (scrap metal drive) of that time period. Larger metal artifacts from machinery or structural support were not recovered in this test excavation and there was evidence of subsurface disturbances in the higher strata of the unit.