Phase I Archaeological Survey for the proposed bridge replacement on SR 184 at Toccoa Creek and delineation of the Prather Bridge Cemettary (9ST346), Stephens County, Georgia

GT Hill Planners Corp. conducted a Phase I Archaeological Survey for the proposed bridge replacement on SR 184 at Toccoa Creek, 3.5 miles northeast of Toccoa, Stephens County, Georgia. The Area of Potential Effect (APE) is defined as the existing right-of-way within which all construction and ground disturbing activity would take place. The APE is 80 feet wide and 900 feet long. An Expanded Survey Corridor (ESC) of additional 100-foot width beyond each side of the identified APE was also sampled. According to the Georgia Archaeological Site File, there are no recorded surveys of the APE or adjacent to it. The file review also yielded three recorded historic sites within 1 km of the APE. However, all sites are in excess of 500 m from the APE, and none of these sites are considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Therefore, no previously recorded sites eligible for the NRHP would be affected by the proposed project. No positive shovel tests were found in the APE or the ESC. The Prather Bridge Cemetery (9ST346), which is believed to have been utilized in the 19th and early 20th centuries, was identified and delineated within the ESC. Associated with the African American community, this cemetery contains a minimum of 23 graves marked, in most cases, with informal head and footstones of fieldstone. The cemetery is eligible for the NRHP under Criterion A for its association with African-American ethnic heritage. The cemetery has been determined to be not eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion C and its status under Criterion D is unknown. The cemetery fulfills Criterion Consideration D. All work on the proposed project would occur outside of the boundary of the cemetery. No other archaeological resources were identified by the present survey.