On October 12, 2015, Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc. (EPEI) conducted Phase I addendum archaeological survey for additional areas of right-of-way (ROW) and easements required for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) project to widen approximately 7.5 miles of State Route (SR) 15/United States (US) 441 in Rabun County (Project No. EDS00-0441-00[28], P.I. No. 122090). The addendum investigation follows several previous Phase I archaeological investigations by GDOT and only concerns additional area of potential effect (APE) added since the last archaeological re-evaluation conducted in 2011 (Williams 2011). The GDOT Office of Environmental Services (OES) previous survey did not identify any archaeological resources along the SR 15/US 441 survey area.
The proposed project would widen and reconstruct SR 15/US 441 from the city of Clayton, Georgia, northward to the existing five-lane typical section approximately 875 feet north of the Georgia/ North Carolina state line. The improvements to SR 15/US 441 are generally proposed as widening to four 12-foot travel lanes with a 20-foot raised median. Existing ROW on SR 15/US 441 varies from 80 feet to 130 feet; required ROW would vary from 82 to 450 feet. The GDOT OES issued a notification letter for EPEI personnel to carry with them during fieldwork.
Review of the Georgia Archaeological Site File (GASF) through Georgia’s Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS) database showed eight previously recorded sites within 1-kilometer of the survey area. The GASF review indicated that of these, only 9RA88, 9RA200, and 9RA201, are located immediately adjacent to the survey area. Based on addendum survey results, site 9RA200, an unknown precontact ceramic and lithic scatter, and 9RA201, a historic house site, do not extend into the addendum survey area. EPEI’s addendum survey revisited a portion of 9RA88, a Late Mississippi Period Lamar site for which National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility under Criterion D is recommended as unknown, but the portion of 9RA88 within the APE is greatly disturbed and lacks significant data potential.
The addendum investigation also resulted in the identification of 9RA458, a newly recorded twentieth century house site in Dillard, as well as the documentation and delineation of 9RA457, the historic Blue Heights Baptist Church Cemetery. Site 9RA458 includes the ruins of a large burnt house and former outbuildings, two of which are extant structures that were found not eligible during addendum historic resources survey (Historic Resources Survey Report [HRSR] 2008).
The portion of site 9RA458 within the APE lacks data potential for significance under Criterion D; however, the overall eligibility of the site is unknown. The Blue Heights Baptist Church Cemetery, site 9RA457, is also of unknown eligibility under Criterion D, but it was determined that it does not extend into the APE, and therefore, it will not be affected by the proposed widening project.
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