New South Associates, Inc. (NSA) performed an archaeological desktop review of a small cell pole for Ramaker & Associates, Inc. on October 6, 2020. This review was performed in accordance with Section I 06 of the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, and determinations were made by qualified individuals in accordance with the Secretary of Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards.
The proposed project entails the installation of a utility pole and associated equipment at 11 l Broad Street in Rome, Georgia (34.25304, -85.17498). The location of the proposed small cell pole is with in an existing right-of-way and located near the intersection of West 1st Street and North 2nd Avenue as shown on the USGS Rome quad map (Figure 1) and current aerial imagery (Figures 2 and 3). The Area of Potential Effects (APE) includes all areas of potential ground disturbance necessary for construction of the new pole and any associated utility lines and equipment.
The desktop review entailed background research of GNAHRGIS, NETROnline Historic Aerials, NRCS Web Soil Survey, and Google Earth to assess the potential for archaeological deposits within the APE. Our review of GNAHRGIS revealed the proposed pole location was located within the boundaries of 9FL162, an archaeological site with an unknown eligibility for the NRHP. On October 8, NSA Archaeologists Erika Carpenter and Justin Byrnes conducted a s ingle 50x50 centimeter shovel test at the proposed pole location to verify the presence or absence of cultural material and the degree of previous disturbance.
New South's desktop review and fieldwork concludes the proposed project location has been disturbed by road/sidewalk construction, associated buried utility lines and decades of episodic grading, filling and construction. Therefore, there is a low probability for intact archaeological sites to be identified at this location. NSA finds no NRHP-eligible or unknown archaeological sites will be affected by the proposed small cell pole replacement.
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