Archaeological Survey and Phase II Testing for Proposed Improvements to SR 515/US 76 from Blairsville to Young Harris, Union and Towns Counties, Georgia

Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS) conducted an intensive Phase I archeological survey and Phase II site testing for proposed improvements (widening) of State Route (SR) 515/US 76 in Union and Towns Counties, Georgia in 2011 and 2012. The purpose of the survey and testing was to locate and evaluate the significance of all archeological sites that might be affected by the proposed undertaking. The performance of the contract was conducted through the HNTB Corporation, an engineering firm contracted by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). The project corridor is about 9 mi (14.5 km) long, extending from the northeastern edge of Blairsville in Union County to the north side of Young Harris in Towns County. It also includes short lengths up side roads at intersections. For most of this corridor the existing two- and three-lane highway is being widened to a four-lane divided highway. The project will also include a two-lane bypass of Young Harris on new location on the west side of the town. The area surveyed, termed the Expanded Survey Corridor (ESC), consists of the Area of Potential Effect (APE), which includes all proposed right-of-way, easements and maximum extent of cut or fill operations, plus a 100-ft (30-m) buffer on both sides of the APE, as it was known in October, 2011. As of the writing of this report in January 2013, the project area has not yet been completely surveyed by the GDOT, and the precise project limits are still unknown in some portions of the project corridor. The survey was conducted from October 31, 2011 through January 20, 2012. Phase II testing of seven sites took place from August 6 through October 25, 2012. As shown in Table 1, the archeological survey recorded 39 new archeological sites and revisited and expanded four previously recorded sites, for a total of 43 sites. The survey also documented five archeological occurrences, or isolated finds, and five modern, active cemeteries. The sites included Precontact period lithic scatters, lithic/ceramic scatters, soapstone quarries, and a petroglyph. Historic period sites were mostly late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century farmsteads and house sites, but also included stores, other buildings, piled rock features, and a nineteenth century family cemetery. Summary information on the 43 sites is presented in Table 2. The survey-level investigation of the 43 sites, coupled with the Phase II testing of seven of the sites, resulted in the recommendation that three sites, 9TO25, 9TO294, and 9TO302, have deposits and characteristics within the presently defined APE that contribute to the sites' eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). A fourth site, a late nineteenth to early twentieth century cemetery (9UN647), is also recommended as being eligible for inclusion in the NRHP, under Criterion D, but early in the planning process designers shifted the widening to other side of the existing highway and thereby will avoid having any physical impact to the site. It is no longer in the project APE. This cemetery will need to be protected in the same manner as the other five cemeteries that occur within the project ESC but beyond the APE, Zebulon Baptist Church, Killian Modern Family, St. Francis Catholic Church, Zion Methodist Church and Old Union Church. These six cemeteries will not be affected by project implementation, but to ensure their safety they will be designated as Environmentally Sensitive Areas. As such they will be plotted onto project maps with notations about avoidance and protection during project implementation. They also will be delineated in the field during construction with bright orange safety fencing. At the remaining 39 sites where either the portion of the site within the APE does not contribute to eligibility for listing in the NRHP or the entire site is recommended ineligible for inclusion in the NRHP, we recommend no further work or special conditions, provided that plans do not change in such a way that the APE expands beyond which was surveyed and tested during this project. We also recommend that the five isolated artifact finds are not eligible for inclusion in the NRHP and require no further work.