20180080 Ver 1_AR16-02-0140 Archaeology NoSitesPresent_20180118

Project Tracking No.:
NO NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ELIGIBLE OR LISTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
PRESENT FORM
This form only pertains to ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCES for this project. It is not
valid for Historic Architecture and Landscapes. You must consult separately with the
Historic Architecture and Landscapes Group.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Project No: B-4662 County: Wake
WBS No: 38257.1.1 Document: PCE or CE
F.A. No: BRZ-2308(3) Funding: State Federal
Federal Permit Required? Yes No Permit Type: ?
Project Description:
The North Carolina Department of Transportation NCDOT intends to replace Bridge No. 196 on SR
2308, Fowler Road, over Moccasin Creek at the Franklin County Line. No description of the project was
provided with the Request for Cultural Resources Review form, but an aerial photograph included with
the request depicts a study corridor that is approximately 1800 feet (548.64 meters) long and 200 feet
(60.96 meters) wide. For the purposes of the initial archaeological review, this area, encompassing 8.26
acres (more than 3.34 hectares) was considered to be the area of potential effects (APE). This APE was
reduced in January 2017 based on preliminary designs to an estimated area of 1.6 acres (nearly .65
hectare).
SUMMARY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDINGS
Brief description of review activities, results of review, and conclusions:
The initial review of the proposed project was completed on July 18, 2016, resulting in a recommendation
for a reconnaissance archaeological survey. The initial review noted no previously identified
archaeological resources in the vicinity of the proposed project, but noted that the large APE extended
onto landforms that might possess intact archaeological resources. A determination of the necessity and
scale of any further investigations was required.
This archaeological reconnaissance survey was conducted on March 24, 2017, by NCDOT archaeologists
Shane Petersen and Brian Overton. An examination of the roughly 650-foot long project corridor along
SR 2308 confirmed conditions that could be extrapolated from soil mapping. Landforms on the Wake
County side of the bridge appeared to be low and poorly drained along the southeast side of Fowler Road
and disturbed with deflated soils on the northwest side by relatively recent clearing and construction. On
the Franklin County side of Bridge No. 196 the side slope of the low ridgetoe exhibited subsoil near the
surface in a few areas southeast of Fowler Road. The opposite side of SR 2308 exhibited similar
moderate sloping. Most of this area fell within the existing 60-foot right-of-way (ROW). It was
determined that the additional 20 feet of ROW proposed for each side of SR 2308 for the current project
was unlikely to possess significant archaeological deposits. No subsurface testing was undertaken in
these areas.
Stone structural remains were immediately observed north of Bridge No. 196 near the bridge footing on
the Franklin County side of Moccasin Creek. Further examination revealed a substantial mill dam
roughly 300 feet north of the bridge. Along the east side of the creek, exposed granite bedrock lies at the
base of the ridgetoe above Moccasin Creek. The mill dam cuts across this exposed bedrock to anchor into
“NO NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBLE OR LISTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES PRESENT”
form for the Amended Minor Transportation Projects as Qualified in the 2007 Programmatic Agreement.
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ridge slopes on either side of the drainage. North of the dam and visible from SR 2308 higher on the
ridgetoe is the remnant of the mill pond, named Baker’s Pond. The dam appears to be breached in two
places: one along the natural course of Moccasin Creek and at a place along the exposed bedrock to the
east of the creek. At this second beach and on the north side of the dam, a massive laid stone core could
be seen that was obscured by soil and vegetation from the south side. North of the dam large wooden
beams that appeared to represent cribbing was observed several feet on the pond-side of the mill dam.
What appeared to be the base of a wooden skirt or facing could be seen on the north side of the possible
cribbing. The structural relationship between this possible cribbing and the laid stone dam was unclear.
To the south of the breach in the dam east of Moccasin Creek stands a one-story frame outbuilding raised
on piers. Square footings for piers or posts could also be seen in the bedrock farther south of the dam,
which may suggest that there was an elevated sluice. Two stone piers or foundation remnants are visible
roughly 100 feet northeast of Bridge No. 196. All of these above-ground features were recorded as
archaeological site, 31FK167**.
Some circumstantial evidence suggests that the mill probably dates to the beginning of the twentieth
century. The mill at Moccasin Creek does not appear on nineteenth-century maps archived at the North
Carolina State Archives and the Digital Production Center in the Carolina Digital Library and Archives at
UNC-Chapel Hill
(http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/ncmaps/searchterm/Franklin%20County/field/spatia/mode/ex
act/conn/and/order/date!title/ad/asc/cosuppress/0), but can be seen as early as 1906-1907 on the Norris
Peters map of Franklin County (there designated as Phillips Mill). The mill pond is also visible on the
United States Post Office map of rural delivery routes for 1910-1919. According to the background
history developed for the late nineteenth-century Phillips-Baker house (located roughly 490 feet northeast
of Bridge No. 196), the earliest mention of the mill in the property deeds dates to 1926 (Reed and Turco
2016: 25). At that time, Henry Baker, Sr., inherited the property from his mother, Alamance Phillips
Baker including “the grist mill and all of the fixtures”. It is worth noting that in their assessment of the
National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility for the Phillips-Baker house and associated
outbuildings, the argument against eligibility under Criterion B was made based on a lack of evidence for
local, state, or national significance for the Baker family (Reed and Turco 2016:31). This has
implications for the eligibility of 31FK167**.
While one of the stone foundation elements falls within the proposed new ROW for the project area,
proposed designs indicated that this feature lies outside the proposed cut-and-fill lines for the bridge
approach. It is likely that there will be no impact to the limited remains within the proposed new ROW.
On April 10, 2017, in consultation with the Office of State Archaeology reviewer, it was decided that this
site was not likely to be significantly impacted and that a NRHP assessment of 31FK167** was
unnecessary.
References Cited
Reed, M. B., and E. Turco
2016 National Register Eligibility Evaluation of the Phillips Baker House for the Replacement of
Bridge 196 over Moccasin Creek on SR 2308 (Fowler Road/Henry Baker Road), Wake and
Franklin Counties, North Carolina. Ms. On file, Environmental Analysis Unit, North Carolina
Department of Transportation, Raleigh.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Archaeology Group reviewed the subject
project and determined:
There are no National Register listed or eligible ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
present within the project’s area of potential effects. (Attach any notes or documents
as needed)
No subsurface archaeological investigations were required for this project.
“NO NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBLE OR LISTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES PRESENT”
form for the Amended Minor Transportation Projects as Qualified in the 2007 Programmatic Agreement.
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Subsurface investigations did not reveal the presence of any archaeological resources.
Subsurface investigations did not reveal the presence of any archaeological resources
considered eligible for the National Register.
All identified archaeological sites located within the APE have been considered and all
compliance for archaeological resources with Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act and GS 121-12(a) has been completed for this project.
SUPPORT DOCUMENTATION
See attached: Map(s) Previous Survey Info Photos Correspondence
Signed:
June 1, 2017
NCDOT ARCHAEOLOGIST Date
“NO NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBLE OR LISTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES PRESENT”
form for the Amended Minor Transportation Projects as Qualified in the 2007 Programmatic Agreement.
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Aerial photograph of the project area with preliminary design and revised APE (red lines) for the
replacement of Bridge No. 196; note the locations of the site boundary for 31FK167**(pink), cut and fill
lines (dotted green line), and structural remains (yellow).
31FK167**
“NO NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBLE OR LISTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES PRESENT”
form for the Amended Minor Transportation Projects as Qualified in the 2007 Programmatic Agreement.
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View of Bridge No. 196 and the proposed APE along SR 2308 (facing northeast towards the
bridge).
View of the proposed APE along SR 2308 (facing south-southwest towards the bridge).
“NO NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBLE OR LISTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES PRESENT”
form for the Amended Minor Transportation Projects as Qualified in the 2007 Programmatic Agreement.
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View of the millpond along Moccasin Creek (Baker’s Millpond?) from the edge of SR 2308
(facing west).
Structural elements associated with Baker’s Mill north of Bridge No. 196 and west of SR 2308 (facing
south).
“NO NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBLE OR LISTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES PRESENT”
form for the Amended Minor Transportation Projects as Qualified in the 2007 Programmatic Agreement.
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Exposed bedrock adjacent Moccassin Creek and mill dam remnants (facing south); note standing mill
complex outbuilding in background.
Postholes cut into bedrock for possible elevated sluice(?).
“NO NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBLE OR LISTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES PRESENT”
form for the Amended Minor Transportation Projects as Qualified in the 2007 Programmatic Agreement.
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Detail of the 1906-1907 Norris Peters map of Franklin County depicting the project location at "Phillips
Mill" (red circle).
Detail of the 1910-1919 U.S. Post Office Rural Delivery Routes map illustrating the location of the mill
pond on the county line (red circle).
"NO NATIONAL REGISTER ELIGIBLE OR LISTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES PRESENT"
form for the Amended Minor Transportation Projects as Qualified in the 2007 Programmatic Agreement.
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