An Archaeological Survey of the Proposed Widening of Barrett Parkway, Cobb County, Georgia

In December 2008, Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. conducted an archeological survey ofproposed widening along a 5.63 km (3.5 mi) section of Barrett Parkway. The project consists of the widening of Barrett Parkway from a point 500 m (1,700 ft) south ofBurnt Hickory Road, north to Cobb PlaceBoulevardNW, in northwestern Cobb County. Included within the project area are approximately 365 m (1,200 ft) of improvements along Burnt Hickory Road, as well as shorter lengths along Old 41 Highway and Stilesboro Road. The project width is variable, but generally extends no more than 20m ( 60 ft) from the edge of existing pavement, and often somewhat less than that. Much of the project area is composed of existing graded ditches and cut banks, as well as graded, cut, and filled areas in and around the commercial and residential developments common along this heavily developed corridor. Archival research indicated that several archeological sites had been detected prior to the construction of Barrett Parkway in the early 1990s, and that a Civil War trench (site 9C0352) and a prehistoric site (9C0348) had been recorded in our project area eligible to the National Register and was then excavated as mitigation for the highway construction ~ (Fryman 1996). Our field survey confirmed the presence ofboth the Civil War trench and the prehistoric site, and also identified a previously undetected Civil War trench. On January 12, 2009, this unidentified earthwork was revisited and mapped using a total station. A brief metal detector survey was also conducted at this time, though no artifacts were recovered within or around the entrenchment. In addition to the archeological resources, a National Register eligible historic resource, the Kirk House, was previously identified in the project area (Greenhome & O'Mara 2008). We detected no archeological material within the project area at the Kirk House. We recommend that the previously identified Civil War trench (9C03 52) requires no further attention because previous mitigation excavations were conducted on the trench just outside the current project area (Fryman et al. 1993, Fryman 1996), and an additional large segment of this trench was recorded and preserved in place to the west of the project area (Jordan et al. 1998). In addition, only a short, disturbed segment of this trench lies within the project area. Therefore, additional work on this well-documented entrenchment would only produce redundant information. The prehistoric lithic scatter, 9C0348, was deemed ineligible for the National Register at the time of its discovery (Stanyard et al. 1993) and again recommended ineligible upon a second encounter with the site (Jordan et al1998). We concur with the evaluations of both the previous investigators. We recommend that the Civil War trench (9C0713) discovered and documented by the present survey is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A and C, and possibly D, because of its good preservation status and its association with the important battle of Kennesaw Mountain. As presently designed, the project will require extending an existing cut bank about 22m (72ft) to the east, thus obliterating about 33m (108ft) of the 88 m (288ft) long trench segment. While the existing segment of this trench is relatively well preserved, it has been truncated on the west and possibly also at its northeastern end. Metal detecting failed to locate any artifacts in and around the trench, and we believe that few artifacts will be present. We recommend that either I the trench be avoided by redesign or adverse project effects be mitigated by the implementation of a mitigation plan. We suggest that this would entail excavating two, 1-m wide test units across the trench to record its profile and conducting more extensive metal detecting of the project area.