Archeological Survey of Proposed Improvements to SR 20, Bartow County, Georga

The Georgia Department of Transportation wishes to make several sets of improvements to State Route 20 just north of Cartersville in central Bartow County. In brief, the project will widen State Route 20 from just west of Interstate Highway 75 westward toward State Route 61 (also U.S. 411), continue the widened SR 20 on new location to intersect with SR 61 at a new location, slightly widen SR 61 southward for about 600 m (1968 ft), and reconfigure the intersection of SR 61 and SR 3 (also U.S. 41) just south of the aforementioned intersection. Total project length is about 4.0 km (2.47 mi). An intensive (Phase I) archeological survey was undertaken to ensure compliance with the Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, which stipulates that federal agencies, in this case the Federal Highway Administration, take into account all historic properties that might be affected by a federally financed or licenced undertaking. The goals of the survey were to locate, delineate and evaluate the significance of, in terms of eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places, all prehistoric and historic archeological sites in the area of potential effect for the undertaking. The survey, which was conducted in July 2000, located five archeological sites and three artifact occurrences. Three of the sites are mid-twentieth century house sites, one is an early twentieth century house site and one is a lithic scatter of unknown cultural affiliation. We recommend that none of the sites or occurrences are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places because they exhibit poor integrity and have no further research potential.