Phase I Archaeological Addendum Survey of Selected Portions of SR 144

New South Associates has completed a Phase I Archaeological Survey of proposed

improvements of State Route (SR) 144 in Richmond Hill, Bryan County, Georgia, in response to a request from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). This Phase I survey serves as an addendum to a previous survey (Pomfret 2007) and covers areas added to the project’s Area of Potential Effects (APE) as a result of design modifications. The work for this survey was conducted in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (36 CFR 800) and was intended to determine the presence of significant archaeological resources in the project’s APE.

The modified project description proposes an urban section for SR 144 (Bryan Neck Road and Ford Avenue) from MP 11.31 to MP 15.09 and a rural section from MP 15.09 to the project terminus at MP 15.890. The urban section includes a temporary staging area northwest of the intersection of SR 144 with Timber Trail Road, as well as a signalized intersection, bike lanes, a grass median, and sidewalks. The rural section for SR 144 will consist of four lanes, grass median, paved shoulders with bicycle access and a roundabout intersection at Belfast River Road and Captain Matthew Freeman Drive. The project will require new easements at Brisbon Road,

Port Royal Road, River Oaks Drive, two entrances to the Publix supermarket parking lot, Strathy

Hall Drive, and a drainage easement at Holly Hill Road. Finally, the project includes proposed construction along the length of Rabbit Hill Road, including reconfiguration of access to and from SR 144.

Based on the current design plans, 10 individual locations, or Areas of Reevaluation were identified in consultation with the GDOT Project Archaeologist for additional survey. These locations are summarized in Table 1 in the report text. The Areas of Reevaluation are considered part of the project’s APE.

The survey identified three previously unrecorded historic archaeological sites. Two are located on Rabbit Hill Road (9BN1592 and 9BN1593) and a third at the intersection of Captain Matthew Freeman Drive and Belfast River Road with SR 144 (9BN1594). Site 9BN1592 consists of a mid-twentieth-century concrete culvert. No artifacts were collected from this site, but the culvert was recorded with measuring tapes and photographs. Site 9BN1593 is a historic artifact scatter dating to the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century. Site 9BN1594 is a scatter of artifacts on SR 144 consisting of two buckshot balls and an unidentified lead or very dense iron fragment.

This site was possibly related to a Confederate barracks depicted in an 1893 atlas of Civil War engagements and the December 1864 Savannah campaign led by General William T. Sherman.

In addition, GDOT requested a new site form for the Burnt Church Cemetery (9BN1595), because the cemetery was adjacent to the APE and was thus recorded in the historic resources survey. Burnt Church Cemetery, located about 200 feet south of the Area of Reevaluation at Belfast River Road, is adjacent to the APE, which is limited to the existing right-of-way in this location. The site contains mature trees and has both historic antebellum and modern memorial garden components. Work at the first three sites included systematic shovel testing, metal detecting, and surface survey. Sites 9BN1593 and 9BN1594 lie partly within the APE at the Rabbit Hill Road and Belfast River Road Areas of Reevaluation, respectively. The portions of the sites within the APE lack significant data potential. However, the sites probably extend outside of the APE and their overall National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility was not evaluated. Site 9BN1592 lies completely within the project APE. Due to its limited data potential, this site is recommended as not eligible for listing on the NRHP. No work was conducted at the cemetery (Site 9BN1595) except for a visual survey.