Home > Research Projects and Centers > Center for Regional Heritage Research > Index of Texas Archaeology > Vol.
Agency
Texas Historical Commission
Abstract
The City of Leander contracted HDR Engineering, Inc. (HDR) to conduct an intensive cultural resources survey in advance of proposed road improvements to Hero Way (Old FM 2243) in the City of Leander, Williamson County, Texas. The project consists of the renovation of 2.7 miles of roadway with an Area of Potential Effects (APE) that includes approximately 1.9 miles of new linear Right-of-Way (ROW) and 3.1 acres of non-linear APE. The archaeological investigation conducted by HDR consisted of intensive survey of the APE to determine the presence/absence of archaeological resources by employing pedestrian survey, shovel testing, and photo documentation. Fieldwork took place from October 21 to October 22 and on December 19, 2014. Work was carried out under THC Antiquities Permit #7039. HDR project personnel consisted of Project Manager Clayton M. Tinsley and crew members Megan Koszarek, Ben Morton, and Jessica Mauck. Ben Fullerton served at the Principal Investigator for the project. A total of 64 person-hours were invested in the field project.
The survey resulted in a pedestrian walkover and photo documentation of the entire project area as well as the excavation of 27 negative shovel tests within proposed new ROW. Much of the project area is severely disturbed by previous activities related to the original construction of the Hero Way roadway, residential development, burial of various types of underground cables, and drainage features. No archaeological materials were identified during the investigation. Revisits to the locations of sites 41WM1003 and 41WM269, portions of which are located within the project APE, did not encounter deposits associated with the sites. The Bagdad Cemetery, located adjacent to the project APE, will not be impacted by the proposed road improvements as all construction near the cemetery will occur within previously-disturbed ROW. In accordance with 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 800 and 13 Texas Administrative Code [TAC] 26, no further archaeological investigations are recommended. As a result of the present survey, it is recommended that the proposed improvements to Hero Way will not have any effect on cultural resources in the project APE, and construction may proceed. In the event that any archaeological deposits are encountered during construction, work should cease, and the Texas Historical Commission (THC) should be notified.
All records and materials generated by this project will be permanently curated at the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
American Material Culture Commons, Archaeological Anthropology Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Other American Studies Commons, Other Arts and Humanities Commons, Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, United States History Commons
Submission Location
Tell us how this article helped you.
