Archaeological Investigations in the Proposed Dog River Reservoir, Douglas County, Georgia

This summary briefly describes the archaeological data recovery investigations conducted to date in the proposed Dog River Reservoir, Douglas County, Georgia. These investigations were undertaken by Brockington and Associates, at the request of the Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority, to provide compliance under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (as amended) as regards federally licensed and funded drainage modifications administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District.

The Dog River Valley lies in west central Georgia. The river flows generally south and east across the Georgia Piedmont, entering the Chattahoochee River just below the City of Atlanta. The proposed Dog River Reservoir will occupy approximately 235 acres (at an optimum flood pool of 750 ft/228.66 m above sea level [asl]) on the lower reaches of the river. The proposed dam will be constructed at approximately 0.35 miles/0.6 km above the confluence of the Dog and Chattahoochee rivers; the reservoir will extend approximately 3.2 miles/5.8 km upstream from the dam site. Figure 1 shows the approximate flood pool of the proposed reservoir.

Archaeological survey of the proposed reservoir was undertaken in May 1988 (Poplin et al. 1988). Fifteen cultural resources were identified within the 235 acre flood pool. Three prehistoric sites (9DO34, 9DO39, and 9DO45), all subjected to additional test excavations, were recommended as significant resources and eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP); three historic structures (9DO33, 9DO35, and 9DO38) were recommended as potentially significant and eligible. The location of all resources within the reservoir are displayed in Figure 1.