Local, State, & Federal Governments
Henry County Board of Commissioners & Water and Sewage Authority
Southern Research has worked on multiple projects with the Board of Commissioners of Henry County and the Henry County Water and Sewage Authority in advanced preparation for development of multiple parcels. These projects have taken place along the South River and Tussahaw Creek and have investigated multiple archaeological sites. One previously recorded site that we revisited was that of Wynn’s Mill, originally Childs’ Mill, which dates to at least 1844. Southern Research archaeologists expanded the site boundaries significantly to include an historic farmhouse, multiple barns, and remnants of old outbuildings. The site was found to be relatively intact and has been recommended potentially eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
Fort Benning/Fort Moore HABS
In 2022, Southern Research, in conjunction with photographer and historian Bruce Harvey, conducted large format Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) photography on three historic buildings at Fort Benning (recently renamed Fort Moore), which are slated for demolition or rehabilitation. These three buildings included a fire alarm office associated with a historic fire station, a pumphouse associated with a heat plant, and a fireman's bunkroom located at Lawson Airfield on Fort Benning. All three of the buildings were constructed in the late 1930s to early 1940s. The pumphouse and fireman's bunkroom were constructed of terracotta tile manufactured at the nearby Dennison Tile plant in nearby Columbus. Southern Research and Bruce Harvey photographed the buildings extensively as well as conducted intensive research into the history of each building when preparing the HABS packages.
Alabama's Bankhead National Forest
In 2021, our crew systematically surveyed 972 acres in Winston County, investigated 40 sites, 28 of which were previously unrecorded. These included multiple rockshelters, lithic scatters, rock piles, historic house sites, and stills.
Georgia's Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests
Since 2015, we have covered nearly 10,000 acres of Georgia's National Forest, split between multiple districts in the northwest, northeast, and central portions of the state. Additionally, we assisted in leading public outreach and educational volunteer opportunities through the Passports in Time (PIT) program from 2015-2019.
North Carolina's Nantahala National Forest
Split between two projects, in 2020 we investigated over 1,000 acres in Macon County, NC. We investigated a total of 51 sites, of which only 13 were previously recorded. Many of the sites yielded diagnostic artifacts that indicated this area of the state was occupied from as early as the Archaic period, all the way to the Late Mississippian Qualla Phase. This mountainous area is the ancestral homeland of Cherokee, prior to their forceable removal in 1838.