Two Archeological Surveys In The Texas Department Of Transportations Atlanta District: FM 450 At Little Cypress Bayou, Harrison County (CSJ 0843-02-012), And County Road 4114 At Brutons Creek, Morris County (CSJ 0919-20-030)

Prewitt and Associates, Inc., was contracted by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to perform two intensive archeological surveys in TxDOT’s Atlanta District under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 6385. This work was completed prior to replacement of a bridge and realignment of approaches on Farm-to-Market Road (FM) 450 at Little Cypress Bayou in Harrison County (CSJ 0843-02-012) and replacement of a bridge and improvement of approaches on County Road 4114 at Brutons Creek in Morris County (CSJ 0919-20-030). The Area of Potential Effects (APE) for the FM 450 project is 50 acres and includes existing and new TxDOT right of way; approximately half of the APE was surveyed in 2010 (McKee 2010). The APE for the County Road 4114 project is 1.2 acres and includes a short segment of existing right of way and 0.9 acres of temporary construction easements. Prewitt and Associates archeologists surveyed the remaining 25 acres of the FM 450 APE and the County Road 4114 APE in December 2012 and January 2013. These investigations required a total of about 11 person-days of effort. The FM 450 survey included the excavation of 50 shovel tests and 11 trenches. This effort identified a small amount of modern trash on the upland margin at the north end of the project area and prehistoric site 41HS973 on the floodplain near Little Cypress Bayou. Site 41HS973 consists of a diffuse scatter of seven pieces of lithic debitage identified on two sandy rises on the Little Cypress Bayou floodplain. The investigation indicated that the archeological deposits in the investigated part of the site lack both integrity and significance. Thus, Prewitt and Associates recommends that the recorded portion of 41HS973 is not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D (36 CFR 60.4; 36 CFR 800.4, 5) or designation as a State Archeological Landmark (13 TAC 26.2, 8). The County Road 4114 survey included the excavation of 15 shovel tests and 4 trenches in and adjacent to the temporary construction easements. No archeological materials or deposits were identified during this investigation. Both surveys were conducted under no artifact collection policies. Identified artifacts were noted, briefly described, and returned to the point of recovery

Seven Archeological Surveys CSJs 0440-04-014, 1200-03-048, 0914-19-030, 0914-19-015, 0914-19-022, And 0914-26-006: RM 243, FM 973, CR 142, CR 119, and Spring Street: Burnet, Gillespie, Mason, And Travis Counties, Austin District

Personnel with Prewitt and Associates, Inc., completed seven archeological surveys in 2013 for the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Environmental Affairs Division in TxDOT’s Austin District under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 6541. The surveys were done to identify archeological sites that could be affected by bridge and road construction at the following six locations: Ranch-to-Market Road 243 at Bear Creek in Burnet County (CSJ 0440-04-014), Farm-to-Market Road 973 at the Colorado River in Travis County (CSJ 1200-03-048), County Road 142 at Palo Alto Creek (two locations) in Gillespie County (CSJs 0914-19-030 and 015), County Road 119 at the Pedernales River in Gillespie County (CSJ 0914-19-022), and Spring Street at Comanche Creek in Mason County (CSJ 0914-26-006). Two phases of survey were done in the Mason County project area. Fieldwork was performed by a team of one to three archeologists, with Damon Burden serving as project archeologist and Karl Kibler, Eloise Gadus, Aaron Norment, or John Dockall assisting as field archeologist or geoarcheologist. Ross C. Fields served as principal investigator. The surveys were done over about 30 work days (60 person days) in May–June and August– October 2013. Five of the locations have small horizontal Areas of Potential Effects, ranging from 0.6 to 3.3 acres and totaling 7.2 acres. The sixth, FM 973 at the Colorado River, is much larger at 43.9 acres. In addition to surface inspection, the surveys involved excavation of 34 backhoe trenches at all six locations and 46 shovel tests at five of them. In addition, 5 hand-dug test units were excavated at the Mason County location. Survey determined that three of the locations—RM 243 at Bear Creek, FM 973 at the Colorado River, and County Road 142 at Palo Alto Creek Location #2—do not contain archeological sites that could be impacted by the proposed projects. Two others—County Road 142 at Palo Alto Creek Location #1 and County Road 119 at the Pedernales River—were found to contain archeological sites (41GL476 and 41GL475, respectively), but the portions within the project areas have no capacity to contribute important information and thus are considered ineligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places or designation as State Antiquities Landmarks. In contrast, 41MS99 found in the Spring Street at Comanche Creek project area is eligible for listing and designation. Artifacts were collected only during the two phases of survey in the Mason County project area; they will be curated, along with artifacts recovered during subsequent data recovery excavations at 41MS99, at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory of the University of Texas at Austin. This also is the repository for all the records resulting from these surveys

National Register Testing At 41TT896 And 41TT906 And Archeological Survey Of Three Parcels, FM 1000 Realignment Project (CSJ No. 1226-04-001), Titus County, Texas

Prewitt and Associates, Inc., was contracted by PTP Transportation, LLC, to perform archeological investigations for Titus County in the proposed final alignment of FM 1000. The work, performed under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 5998, consisted of archeological test excavations at sites 41TT896 and 41TT906 to assess their eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and designation as State Archeological Landmarks and archeological survey of three parcels. Fieldwork was done in July–August 2011, January–February 2012, and July 2012 and required about 99 person-days of effort. Test excavations at 41TT896 consisted of 23 backhoe trenches, eight 1x1-m test units, and 13 shovel tests. This effort revealed low-density scatters of prehistoric chipped stone artifacts and twentieth-century historic artifacts, along with a single historic feature. No prehistoric cultural features were identified. Recovered projectile points and the absence of prehistoric ceramics suggest that the prehistoric component dates to the Late Archaic period. The historic component relates to a farm complex outside the project area. Neither component at 41TT896 has the capacity to contribute important information, and thus the site is ineligible for National Register listing or State Archeological Landmark designation. Test excavations at 41TT906 consisted of 15 backhoe trenches and four 1x1-m test units; the final task consisted of mechanically scraping 1,864 m2 of the site to ensure that no Native American burials were present. These efforts revealed a lowdensity scatter of prehistoric chipped stone artifacts and ceramics and a single disturbed burned rock feature representing sparse Late Caddo, Archaic, and perhaps late Paleoindian components. The investigated part of 41TT906 has no capacity to contribute important information and thus is ineligible for National Register listing or State Archeological Landmark designation. Investigation of Survey Areas 1–3 included the excavation of 50 shovel tests across 13 acres. No archeological sites were identified in Survey Areas 1 or 2. A historic-age residential structure in Survey Area 2 was moved onto the property in the 1960s–1970s; it does not possess integrity of place or materials and is not eligible for listing in the National Register. Historic site 41TT918 was identified in Survey Area 3. It consists of a historic scatter that represents outbuildings associated with a twentieth-century farmstead located outside the project area to the southeast. It has no capacity to contribute important information and thus is ineligible for National Register listing or State Archeological Landmark designation. All artifacts and records generated by this project are curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin

The 2014 And 2015 Archeological Surveys And 2018 Testing Of The Arsenal Block For The Elysian Viaduct Bridge Replacement Project In Houston, Harris County, Texas

This report documents the results of three separate but related projects—two cultural resources surveys and testing at one historic site. All three project areas are within the Elysian Viaduct project corridor just northeast of downtown Houston, Harris County, Texas. The work was undertaken as part of the Elysian Viaduct Bridge Replacement Project sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation, and Prewitt and Associates, Inc., conducted these archeological field investigations in 2014, 2015, and 2018. The Texas Historical Commission authorized these investigations under Texas Antiquities Permit Nos. 6985, 7329, and 7637. The 2014 survey included six Gradall trenches within a 1,066-ft-long section of the project corridor extending from the north edge of Buffalo Bayou to Nance Street. This trenching was limited to a depth of 5 ft, and only artificial fill deposits were observed. Historic incinerated trash deposits and other observed historic fill materials and artifacts represent an urban dump that was recorded as 41HR1157. This site could not be fully evaluated in 2014 because the subsurface trenching did not extend deep enough. The 2015 survey covered the portion of the corridor from Commerce Street on the south to Nance Street on the north. This 3,300-ft-long section of roadway was investigated by excavating 27 backhoe and trackhoe trenches. Fifteen of the trenches were in the Frost Town site, 41HR982. Twenty-four historic cultural features were discovered, and hundreds of artifacts were recovered. These findings are briefly discussed in this report, but the details of this investigation will be presented in a future report on the Frost Town data recovery effort. Seven deep trenches excavated in 2015 were north of the bayou within urban dump site 41HR1157, and six of these were in the same locations as shallow trenches dug in 2014. In the northern end of this site, these trenches revealed deeper and more-extensive incinerated trash fill deposits and exposed the western edge of a former gully that was used as a city dump. Trenches in the southern half of this area revealed extensive artificial fill representing many different dump episodes of excavated sediments and structural debris from nearby urban development projects. In the southern end of the survey area, two trenches encountered the disturbed historic surface associated with the Bayou City Cotton Compress, and a number of railroad-related artifacts were found. In addition, a large in situ concrete block in one trench is probably associated with a concrete plant dating from the 1950s to the 1980s. Five other trenches excavated during the 2015 survey were in two different city blocks, resulting in the documentation of two historic sites corresponding to these blocks. Two trenches were dug in the Arsenal Block, and the entire block was recorded as 41HR1167. This was the location of the Republic of Texas Armory from 1837 to 1840, and a deep ravine across this block was known historically as the Arsenal Block gully and was used as an urban dump. The trenches in the area revealed disturbed secondary deposits with a substantial amount of twentiethcentury residential artifacts in one trench. This trenching did not extend deep enough to get to the bottom of the gully, and plans were made to conduct additional trenching on a lower erosional bench near the bayou to look for deeper and earlier trash deposits. Three trenches were excavated in the triangular Peter Floeck tract, all of which was recorded as 41HR1166. This was the location of Peter Floeck residence and Floeck’s Brewery ca. 1859–1867. These trenches revealed thick layers of artificial fill and extensively disturbed remains. Historic residential artifacts and redeposited remnants of brick structures were encountered in some places, and part of one trench was dominated by a disturbance within an area of hydrocarbon-saturated clay soils. The disturbance is a large excavated pit that was lined with plastic and then filled with clean sand. It cuts through the contaminated clay layer and probably represents an attempt to remove contaminated soils. The contaminated soils are associated with a historic gasometer structure (a tank for storing manufactured gas for street lighting) at this location. The third investigation described in this report was in the summer of 2018 when additional trenching was conducted at the Arsenal Block site. This work involved a series of 10 deep trenches in a continuous north-south line on a lower bench close to Buffalo Bayou. The 2018 trenches started some 12–16 ft lower than the 2015 trenches and were excavated another 9–16 ft deeper into the deposits inside the old Arsenal Block gully. The findings in these trenches were radically different that what was observed in 2015. The 2018 trenches revealed extensive deposits dominated by coal ash and hydrocarbon-saturated soils. Archival research indicates that these are waste materials generated in a coal-fired gas manufacturing plant or a coal-fired electrical generating plant in the immediate vicinity of the Arsenal Block. Of the four sites examined during the 2014, 2015, and 2018 investigations, only the Frost Town site, 41HR982, is considered eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and designation as a State Antiquities Landmark. This assessment was made and agreed upon by Prewitt and Associates, Inc., the Texas Department of Transportation, and the Texas Historical Commission based on the results of the original 2004 survey. This assessment was reconfirmed after the 2015 survey, and planning for an intensive archeological data recovery effort at the Frost Town site had already begun. Based on the results of the 2014, 2015, and 2018 investigations, the extensively disturbed and secondary dump deposits at the other three sites have no research value beyond what has been gleaned from the site recording and archival research presented here. Consequently, it is recommended that the portions of 41HR1157, 41HR1166, and 41HR1167 that are within the Elysian Viaduct project corridor are not eligible for National Register listing and State Antiquities Landmark designation. This assessment does not apply to parts of these sites outside the Elysian Viaduct corridor