Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Porter Padmount

Between May 18-19, 2021, Brockington and Associates, Inc. (Brockington) completed a Phase I cultural resources survey for the proposed Porter Padmount located in Bleckley County, Georgia (Figures 1 and 2). The 3.4-acre tract is in an agricultural field west of Coley Station Road (GA-112), south of Meadows Orchards Road, and north of Porter Road. Surrounding land use consists of agricultural fields to the north, west, and south, a pecan orchard to the east, and a volunteer fire station to the southeast. Brockington’s investigation was carried out for Georgia Power Company (GPC) ahead of proposed construction of a padmount (small substation) on the tract and included a literature review to document all known resources as well as archaeological and architectural field investigations to identify any cultural new resources that might be affected by the project. The archaeological survey area is defined as the 3.4-acre proposed padmount tract. The architectural survey area includes the project tract as well as an additional radius of 0.25 mile (0.4 kilometer [km]) to account for possible visual effects. Brockington also documented resources outside the 0.25-mile radius if they were in the direct viewshed of the proposed padmount. The primary survey 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 survey methods, the results of background research and field investigations, and Brockington’s 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. Brockington also followed current guidelines established by the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists (GCPA 2019) and Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR) Historic Preservation Division (HPD) (2017) as well as other pertinent state and federal guidelines. All cultural resources identified during this investigation were evaluated 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 the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards in accordance with 36 CFR Part 61.