An Intensive Cultural Resources Survey of the Proposed City of Gainesville Wastewater Spray Fields, Hall County, Georgia

Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., under contract with Jordan, Jones and Goulding, Inc., recently conducted an intensive cultural resources survey of the proposed City of Gainesville wastewater spray field. The 300 ha (740 ac) tract is located approximately three miles south of the city of Gainesville, in Hall County, Georgia. The survey was conducted to be in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, with the goal of locating, describing and, to the extent possible, evaluating the significance of (in terms of eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places) all archeological sites that might be affected by the proposed undertaking. Two person survey crews employed a combination of visual inspection and intensive shovel testing to cover the terrain between March 27 and April 7, 1995.

The survey resulted in the identification of 23 sites and six artifact occurrences. A brief description of these sites, including their potential significance and recommendations for further work, is presented in Table 1. Twelve of the sites date to the nineteenth or twentieth century, and three of these also have non‑diagnostic prehistoric lithic components. Most of these historic sites are turn of the century houses, dams, or stills in poor archeological condition, and all are recommended ineligible to the National Register due to the sparsity of deposits, lack of integrity, or limited research potential. The remaining sites are prehistoric lithic and artifact scatters, and most of these are also recommended ineligible to the National Register for the same reasons. However, three prehistoric sites (9HIA06, 9HIA25, and 9HIA28) exhibited sufficient artifact density and diversity to suggest that they could yield significant, new information. All three date to the Woodland and Mississippian periods, component types which are presently poorly understood in this region. Further testing should be conducted at these sites to better identify their integrity and research potential. Until such testing can be implemented, we recommend these three sites potentially eligible for the National Register.