Archeological Assessment of a House Site, Wilshire Estates, Fayette County, Georgia

The Centex Company wishes to construct a housing subdivision on a tract of land north of State Route 74 about 2.4 km northwest of Starrs Mill, in southwestern Fayette County (Figures 1 and 2). The tract contains the remnants of several structures, which are houses and outbuildings associated with two early twentieth century farmsteads. In their review of a Section 404 permit for the project, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District requested that one of these house sites, composed of a house and adjacent shed, be archeologically evaluated and that a deed search be done on the property. The requested archeological assessment and deed search was conducted by the author on April 17, 2000, and this report presents the results of that work. We documented the house site as archeological site 9FY146.

Cartographic research was conducted at the University of Georgia Libraries prior to the field visit. The house site is depicted on a 1919 soil survey map of Fayette County, on various aerial photographs from 1937 to 1978, and on the 1965 USGS topographic quadrangle (Senoia). Today the house and shed are in ruins. The 1942 aerial photograph by the Soil Conservation Service (photo JY-1 C-97) shows the site clearly and probably provides the best depiction of the site as it was used. The house is adjacent to Ebenezer Road (later Old Ebenezer Road). The photograph shows a squarish main part of the house with a major rear ell and a small side ell. The three large oak trees that flank the house today are all present. Although we cannot be sure, it appears that the shed is also present. The barn is clearly visible to the east, across Ebenezer Road. The house is surrounded by cultivated fields and is one of many such houses and small farm complexes visible in this portion of the county.