Article Title

A Cultural Resources Survey Of the City of Turkey Well Field and Water Transmission Project Hall County, Texas

Authors

Molly F. Godwin

Agency

Texas Historical Commission

Abstract

The City of Turkey (City) plans to develop a water well field and to construct a new water transmission line that will connect the well field with an existing municipal pump station southwest of the City in southern Hall County. The well field is currently privately owned and if deemed acceptable for the development, the property may be purchased by the City. Funding for the project will be through the Texas Water Development Board’s Economically Depressed Areas Program. The water transmission line route will be installed in an easement owned by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Hall County, and private property. The parts of the project located in the TxDOT and county easements are subject to the Antiquities Code of Texas, which requires the consideration of any potential effects on cultural resources before new construction projects begin. The survey was performed under Antiquities Permit 7227 by Antiquities Planning & Consulting (APC).

The well field will be developed inside open land measuring 486.47 acres in size. Only parts of the property will be developed. The Area of Potential Effect (APE) where new construction will take place is not yet final. Water wells will be drilled inside the parcels with collection lines constructed from the wells to the water line. Water well pads will be located inside fenced areas measuring 110 feet by 110 feet and will total 0.28 acres in size. The APE for the water line will be about 5.25 miles long by 15 feet wide or about 9.5 acres in area. Of the waterline APE, 1.6 miles along County Road CC has been previously inspected for cultural resources. APC survey coverage included 102.2 acres in the proposed well field and 3.65 miles by 30 feet wide (13.2 acres) along SH 70 and FM 3323 for total coverage of about 115.4 acres.

No new archeological sites or historic buildings were found. Parts of two existing archeological sites were revisited. Ineligible cultural materials were observed inside the remnants of Site 41HL2 and Site 41HL72 located in the SH 70 right-of-way. One isolated flake was found in the northern part of the well field on the surface. One small outbuilding was found inside the southern well field tract. The building is sheet metal with a construction date after 1967. The building is not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and/or as a State Archeological Landmark (SAL) based on lack of architectural style. During the survey no diagnostic artifacts were found. No artifacts were recovered from shovel testing or collected for analysis or curation.

APC concludes that significant cultural resources eligible for listing in the NRHP and/or as SALs will not be affected by the proposed activity. APC, therefore, recommends that development of the City of Turkey Well Field and Water Transmission Line project proceed with one routine construction condition. APC recommends that if unexpected archeological deposits are exposed during construction, digging should stop at the discovery location and APC should be notified, by telephone at (512) 398-2946. The find should be evaluated by APC archeologists in consultation with the Texas Historical Commission before digging resumes at the location.

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