Phase I Cultural Resources Survey at Quacco Canal: Management Summary Chatham County, Georgia

New South Associates conducted a Phase I survey to locate and record cultural resources within a roughly 200 acre tract along Quacco Canal, Chatham County, Georgia. The US Army Corps of Engineers has plans for an aquatic ecosystem restoration of the area. The proposed project has the potential to cause adverse effects to significant cultural resources. Cultural resources include archaeological sites, historic structures, historic buildings, cultural landscapes, and historic objects, as well as artifacts, museum collections, agency files, land records, oral histories, photographs, and community lifeways. The cultural resources study reported herein consisted of essentially two broad tasks – historical archival and documentary research and archaeological field survey. Archaeological survey of the study area was conducted during the weeks of May 26 and June 7, 2003. These investigations resulted in the recording of two archaeological sites located within the study tract. The first, Site 9CH 1048, is defined as the canals, dikes, and other remnant features of abandoned rice fields. While no artifacts or features associated with rice culture such as wood rice boxes, mills, barges, etc. that would be adversely affected by increased water salinity as a result of the project are located at the site, taken in whole the site presents a relatively untouched historic cultural landscape. New South Associates therefore recommends this site potentially eligible for the National Register for its association with historic Georgia Low Country rice culture. The second, Site 9CH 1051 ,is a prehistoric artifact scatter located in a plowed field . While yielding a number of artifacts, none were recovered from below the plow zone and the site appears to lack stratified deposits. Due to this lack of integrity, New South Associates recommends the site ineligible for the National Register. Finally, in the process of accessing the study property, three additional sites were also noted and recorded .

One is a very small, Civil War munitions stash (9CH 1 047), the second is a shell midden located on the banks of the Little Ogeechee River (9CH 1 049), and the third is the Bourquin gravesite (9CH 1 050). None of these sites are located in the study area and they will not be affected by the Quacco Canal project.