Archaeological Survey of Riverwalk South Rotary Park to Fort Benning

The archeological survey of the proposed City of Columbus Riverwalk Project extending from Rotary Park to Fort Benning consists of 2.3 miles of corridor typically 50 to 75 ft in width. Also included within the survey area were approximately 10 acres of proposed parking facilities and two larger tracts at the southern end of the project area totaling 416 acres. The northern portion of the project follows the Chattahoochee River. The southern portion crosses into the interior to join Fort Benning. A substantial portion of the riverwalk route will follow an existing sewer line corridor. The southern portion of the route will cut cross-country through areas of varying degrees of disturbance. An intensive archeological survey of the project area was conducted by Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. in November 1993. The survey was conducted for the City through the architectural firm of Hecht, Burdeshaw and Johnson, P.C. Twelve cultural resources were identified. Eight of these were designated as archeological sites; the remaining four were isolated artifact occurrences. Five of the sites (9Mel, 9Me32, 9Me33, 9Me49 and 9MeS0) are previously reported sites. The three remaining sites, 9Me373, 9Me374, and 9Me377, were first discovered by this survey. Based upon the accumulated knowledge of previous investigations combined with the results of this survey, recommendations can be made concerning determination of eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places for all but one of these sites. The sites in the southern portion of the project area (9Me49, 9Me373, 9Me374 and 9Me377) are recommended as ineligible for nomination. These four sites have been heavily disturbed as a result of clay mining, park construction and transmission line clearing. One of the four northern sites (9Me32) is likewise recommended ineligible. Site 9Me32 has been essentially destroyed by borrow pit activities. Sites 9Mel (Bull Creek site) and 9MeS0 (Victory Drive site) are previously known significant sites and are recommended eligible to the National Register. Portions of both of these sites have been severely disturbed, but portions remain which can provide significant new information. The Bull Creek site is of historical importance because of the extensive WPA-era excavations which uncovered the remains of aboriginal structures and an extremely rare example of an aboriginal cemetery. The cemetery portion of the Bull Creek site remains intact and should be avoided. Routing of the riverwalk to the east of the cemetery area, as is planned, will involve no impact to the site because this eastern area has been previously destroyed. We believe the site has only limited potential to yield additional information through more excavation, mainly because so much of the site has been severely disturbed by erosion and filling. We further believe that the continued lack of reporting of previous excavations at this important, National Register-eligible site constitutes an adverse impact to the site. The logical course of action to mitigate against this adverse impact is to insure that existing notes and records are assembled into an accessible, final report. We recommend that mitigation at the Bull Creek site should consist of sponsorship of the assembly of a final report that describes all five (or more) previous excavations at the site plus a summation of the condition of the site today. 9Me50, the Victory Drive site, was partially excavated during salvage operations in the 1960s by Frank Schnell of the Columbus Museum. Those excavations produced substantial amounts of cultural remains from a late eighteenth century historic Creek occupation. Most of the site was thought destroyed following those excavations. However, a preserved area of the site, adjacent to the bluff edge and containing features and intact deposits, was identified during our survey. Design plans for the riverwalk through this site have not yet been finalized. When they are, impacts to the portion of the site that will be directly affected will need to be mitigated by data recovery (excavation). Such data recovery would consist of the hand excavation of several units and the machine stripping of the remainder of the impact zone. One site, 9Me33, lies adjacent to the riverwalk route and thus was only superficially examined by this survey. The site has been partially destroyed by clay mining and subsequent land filling, but a substantial portion of the site appears to remain intact. As presently designed, the riverwalk will not disturb the preserved site area, which is away from the river, and thus will not affect the site. However, if design plans do change to affect the undisturbed portion of site 9Me33, further testing should be undertaken to determine eligibility. It is the recommendation of the principal investigator that two sites, 9Mel and 9Me50, are eligible to the National Register of Historic Places and thus warrant further attention. Limited impact may be posed to 9Me1 by routing the riverwalk in the previously disturbed eastern portion of the site and preparing a design plan that will avoid and protect the remaining preserved cemetery portion of the site. The site is being affected by the ongoing lack of reporting of previous investigations. The recommended mitigation of this effect is the timely and adequate reporting of these past investigations. The preserved portion of 9Me50, near the river, should be avoided if possible. If this area cannot be avoided by project impacts, those impacts should be mitigated by data recovery (excavation). A mitigation plan for 9Me50 should be prepared once final design plans are implemented.