An Archaeological Assessment of the Broad River Pointe Subdivision Tract

This report compiles information from a variety of sources, including state site forms, a National Register Nomination form, three archeological survey reports, letter reports of follow-up surveys, letters of support and intent, maps, photographs and personal communications, to produce a single volume addressing the significance and protection of archeological sites and resources on a 35.6 ha (88 ac) tract of land in southern DeKalb County that is currently being developed as a residential subdivision. The development tract includes about half of the 56.6 ha (140 ac) Soapstone Ridge National Register District, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Construction began on the development in May 1996, with a Corps of Engineers 404 permit, but the permit was suspended in October 1996 when the Corps realized National Register sites, in particular the McGarity-Etheridge Site (9DA17), were being affected. The developer met with Georgia State Historic Preservation Office personnel and Corps of Engineers personnel to determine what steps needed to be taken. It was agreed that the developer could continue to work in the areas already cleared and graded due to the fact that no archeological integrity remained in these areas. To aid in the process of assessing affects and recommending mitigative measures, two archeologists (Southerlin 1996; Worth 1997) conducted reconnaissance surveys of the site and tract. These involved extensive surface inspection, but no subsurface excavation. The proposed development will affect seven recorded archeological sites, five of which are in the Soapstone Ridge National Register district. These sites were recorded during a comprehensive survey of the tract (and adjoining other lands) by Dickens and Carnes (n.d.). Based on all previous work, but primarily on the assessment of archeologist Dr. John Worth, it is our recommendation that only one of these sites, the McGarity-Etheridge Site (9DA17), is a significant and contributing member to the Soapstone Ridge district. The other four sites in the district and the two sites outside of the district are recommended as not eligible to the National Register or as non-contributing members of the Soapstone Ridge district. The McGarity-Etheridge site encompasses about 4 ha (10 ac), and about 50 percent of it has been destroyed by earth moving prior to the developer's knowledge of any archeological artifacts being present. Initial development plans already engineered called for the remainder of the site to be graded and heavily disturbed. To mitigate this adverse effect, it is proposed that the development be redesigned and that 2.5 ha (6.3 ac), a portion that contains most of the best examples of the soapstone quarrying activity, be preserved in place by deeding it to the Archeological Conservancy for permanent preservation. The Archeological Conservancy will prepare a long-term, in-place preservation plan.