An Intensive Cultural Resource Assessment Survey of the Hendley Moneith Tract, Chatham County, Georgia

In August of 2007, an intensive cultural resource assessment survey was conducted by Bland and Associates, Inc. (BAI) of a 40.6-acre tract located within Chatham County, Georgia. This project was undertaken to comply with federal (Department of Army Permit Application No. 200501056) and state regulations regarding the identification and management of historic properties that might occur within the project tract. The project tract is the proposed site of commercial properties which are to be located west of State Route 21, east of Hendley Road, and north of Meinhard Road in Chatham County, Georgia. The taxpayer identification number (TPIN) for the parcel under investigation is 7-0977-01-027. This project was undertaken at the request of Kem Coleman & Co., LLC of Savannah, Georgia, and 2195 Developers, LLC. The goals of this project were to locate, identify, delineate, and evaluate cultural resources within the tract. This project entailed intensive shovel testing of the 40.6-acre project tract (n= 93), as well as surface inspection. In recent years, this project tract has been modified through earth moving with heavy equipment and silviculture, and previously it was modified by agricultural use during the early to middle 20th century.

One, historic archaeological site was discovered within the project tract. It consists of a brick chimney fall, a cinderblock foundation, and a pile of corrugated sheet metal which is associated with the use of the project tract as a farm from approximately 1911 through 1953, first by the Steele family, and later by the Hester family. Artifacts such as milk glass, clear glass, and white-wares were collected from the exposed ground surface (only) around the structural rubble piles; no intact structures are present. This site type is typical of the area, and more than twenty, razed, 20th century farmhouses have been recorded in the immediate vicinity of the project tract during previous cultural resource management (CRM) surveys. Based upon the absence of intact occupational strata and the impacts this site has already sustained, the research and testing conducted to date do not suggest future research potential. Although the recorded location and boundaries of this site have provided useful data for the development of regional settlement studies, it is recommended ineligible for inclusion in the NRHP, and no further archaeological investigation or preservation is warranted. Based upon these results, it is recommended that the proposed project be authorized to proceed as planned without further concern for impacts to significant cultural resources.