Phase I Cultural Resource Survey of the Satellite Boulevard Expansion

A Phase I cultural resource survey was performed by Garrow & Associates, Inc., under contract with Riley, Park, Hayden & Associates, Inc., in March of 1994, in order to assist the Gwinnett County Department of Transportation with cultural resource compliance issues prior to the construction of the Satellite Boulevard extension project and its rights-of-way. The cultural resource study corridor is described as a corridor 36.6 m (120 feet) wide that will be used for the realignment and extension of Satellite Boulevard and its ROW from Sugarloaf Parkway north to the intersection at Wildwood Road, a distance of 2.82 km (1.75 miles). The purpose of this survey was to identify the cultural resources situated within the study corridor, as well as those located within the Area of Potential Effect of the proposed undertaking. The study corridor consists of wooded tracts and small pastures, and is bisected by Old Peachtree Road. The topography in the study corridor is described as gently rolling hills and extended ridge tops that are dissected by intermittent streams. The entire corridor was visually inspected, and selected areas that had retained depositional integrity were subjected to systematic shovel testing. A total of 40 shovel test pits was excavated during this investigation. The results of the survey are that two trash dumps were located and one historic farmstead site (9GW281) was identified. These cultural resources were preliminarily assessed under the four Criteria For Evaluation used to determine eligibility for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (National Register Branch 1991:37). The two recent trash dumps consist of household. debris, discarded tires, broken furniture, and construction debris. They are recommended ineligible for inclusion on the National Register due to their recent age and lack of integrity. However, site 9GW281 does appear to be potentially eligible. This site consists of the architectural remains and associated features of an early twentieth-century rural farmstead. Site 9GW281 encompasses an area of 75m2and is oriented north-south facing Old Peachtree Road. This site has the potential to contain intact archaeological deposits that could yield information about early twentieth-century rural lifeways of Georgia. Therefore, Phase II archaeological testing is recommended at this site in order to ascertain its eligibility for inclusion on the NRHP as well as provide information about the lifeways of the early twentieth-century occupation at this Georgia farmstead. From July 19 until August 5, 1993, archaeologists from the Transportation Center at The University of Tennessee-Knoxville conducted Phase II testing at 9CK727 in Cherokee County, Georgia. The testing was undertaken in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Transportation proposed connecter from I-75 to State Route 371. The site is an interchange of the connector at I-575, Section I-575-1 (26), and the remaining portions of the connector extend to the east and west from the interchange, Section NH-280-1 (5). Testing of sites in Section NH-280-1(5) are reported elsewhere (Alvey and Lanham 1993). Site 9CK727 is located on the east bank of Hickory Log Creek 0.83 km north of the confluence of the Etowah River and Hickory Log Creek. The testing of 9CK727 consisted of the excavation of bucket auger tests at no more than 20 m intervals across the site area; the placement of tube sampler tests at 1 m intervals in selected areas; and the excavation of 1 m x 1 m test units. The excavation of 21 auger tests at 20 m and 10 m intervals indicated the site measures approximately 72 m N-S and 35 m E-W and the excavation of 5 1 m x 1 m test units revealed a buried cultural component. Excavated remains from 9CK727 indicate the site is early Middle Woodland (Cartersville). The site contains diagnostic Cartersville ceramics, lithic tools, and lithic debris. The site contains an intact buried early Middle Woodland deposit and is considered eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Archaeological data collection should be conducted on the site prior to highway construction.