Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Banks Crossing-Gordon Farms 115kV Transmission Line

Between March 1 and 5, 2021, Brockington and Associates, Inc. (Brockington) completed a Phase I cultural resources survey for the proposed Banks Crossing-Gordon Farms 115kV transmission line (TL) located in Banks and Jackson Counties, Georgia (Figures 1 and 2). The 2.15-mile (3.46 kilometer [km]) corridor extends through both rural and developed parcels south of I-85 and north of Commerce. The line will begin at Structure 31 on the Commerce Primary-Middle Fork transmission line west of Ridgeway Church Road in Jackson County, run north along Ridgeway Church Road, and then turn east northeast cross country and cross into Banks County. Near the county line, the corridor will turn southeast and extend to the Craven Pottery Substation (retired). The line will then turn east northeast along Industrial Park Drive and extend to Structure 274 on the Center Primary-Middle Fork 115 kV transmission line. Our cultural resources survey was carried out for Georgia Power Company (GPC) ahead of proposed construction of a transmission line along our survey route. Our survey included a literature review to document all known resources as well as archaeological and architectural field investigations to identify any new resources. Our archaeological survey area is defined as the 2.15-mile (3.46 km) proposed corridor.

Cross-country portions of the corridor are 200 ft (60 m) wide (100 ft [30 m] on either side of the center line); road-side portions of the corridor are 50 ft (15 m) from the edge of the pavement on either side of the road. Our architectural survey area includes the project corridor as well as an additional radius of 0.25 mile (0.4 km) to account for possible visual effects. Our primary goal was to determine if the proposed project will impact cultural resources that are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). This letter report includes a description of our methods, the results of our background research and field investigations, and our recommendations for the proposed project. Though this is a due diligence project, all activities described herein have been carried out in accordance with the stipulations of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (per 36 CFR Part 800, as amended through 2016) and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) revised 36 CFR Part 800 Regulations. We also followed current guidelines established by the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists (GCPA 2019) and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR) Historic Preservation Division (HPD) (2017) as well as other pertinent state and federal guidelines. We evaluated all cultural resources identified during this investigation for eligibility for inclusion in the NRHP based on criteria set forth by 36 CFR Part 60.4. Supervising personnel for this survey meet or exceed the Secretary of Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards in accordance with 36 CFR Part 61.