Phase I Archaeological Survey of the Paramore Hill Transmission Line, Jenkins County, Georgia

The week of February 2, 2015 Brockington and Associates, Inc. completed a background literature review and field investigations for a Phase I archaeological survey for the proposed Paramore Hill Transmission line located in eastern Jenkins County, Georgia near the city of Millen (Figures 1-2). The project originates northwest of the intersection of Paramore Hill Road and Dickey Road, the proposed site of a new electrical substation; Brockington completed archaeological survey on this parcel in December 2014. The new corridor extends from the Paramore Hill substation site, approximately three miles northeast to co tie into the existing Millen Primary-Sylvania 115kV line along GA-21. The corridor ranges from approximately 25- feet wide along the existing roadways to 100-feet wide in overland portions. In addition to archaeological survey of the corridor, Brockington also surveyed a portion of the Millen Primary-Sylvania line including the intersection point, five approximately 2-acre parcels along the project center line acquired by Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC), and three temporary access roads to be used by GTC for the construction of the new transmission line. This letter report summarizes the archaeological resources survey study methods, results, and recommendations related to the investigation of the project area. The archaeological investigations consisted of an examination of archaeological site forms from previous surveys along with a shovel testing survey and surface inspection within the corridor (Figure 3).

The Area of Potential Effects (APE) for this undertaking is defined as the approximately three mile long and 25-100 foot wide corridor, as well its tie in area on the existing Millen Primary-Sylvania 115kV line. The survey also covered the associated access roads and land parcels to be used by GTC along the route.

Background research on this APE was conducted through the University of Georgia State Site File (GASP) in Athens. The research recovered current information on previously recorded cultural resources (i.e., archaeological sites, buildings, structures, districts, objects, and sites of traditional/ cultural importance) that might be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and could be affected by the proposed project. The records search was made for documents pertaining to previously known, reported, and/ or NRHP nominated resources within a one-mile (1.6-km) radius of the project tract.

The results of the search of the GASP indicate that there are several previously recorded archaeological sites within and near the project corridor (Table 1).