During the month of February 2016, Southeastern Horizons, Inc. (SEH) conducted an intensive Phase I archaeological survey of the proposed Millen Solar Panel Facility (MSPF) for the City of Millen through the firms Hofstader and Associates, Inc. of Macon, Georgia and Bright Spaces of Kennesaw, Georgia. Its purpose was to evaluate an approximately six acre tract for the presence of cultural resources where a proposed solar power generating facility is to be constructed. The survey was executed under the mandates of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and its implementing regulation 36 CFR Part 800 (Protection of Historic Properties), as amended.
Upon arrival at the site it was found to be clear-cut and logged and the entire project Area of Potential Effect (APE) was covered in a dense deposit of historic materials. This deposit was ultimately treated as a single site. In addition, a total of 55 shovel tests were dug over three days to search for and define any buried deposits of cultural resources.
The historic deposit (component) was treated as a single site and the Georgia Archaeological Site File (GASF) assigned it the Georgia site number 9JS99. It was found to be highly disturbed and is recommended as ineligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). A ruined residence building also stands at the eastern edge of the property. It was evaluated and also found to be ineligible for nomination to the NRHP. Portions of two prehistoric sites were also found, one at the northern end of the property (9JS100) and the other at the south (9JS101). Neither produced diagnostic artifacts and their artifact densities were determined to be extremely low. Both are recommended as ineligible for nomination to the NRHP. A single prehistoric artifact found well away from the two prehistoric sites was classified as an isolated find. It is not a site and, by definition, not eligible for nomination to the NRHP.
Aside from the archaeological data derived from the survey, none of the remaining cultural resources within the APE are likely to yield important research information toward building new knowledge about the culture history of the region. Therefore, it is recommended that the MSPF project be allowed to proceed.
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