Article Title

Interstate Highway 35 from South of State Highway 80 to North of Ranch-to-Market 12, Hays County, Texas

Authors

Katherine Seikel

Agency

Texas Historical Commission

Abstract

In February 2017, AmaTerra Environmental, Inc. (AmaTerra) conducted an intensive archeological survey for proposed improvements to Interstate Highway (I) 35 from South of State Highway (SH) 80 to North of Ranch-to-Market (RM) 12 through the City of San Marcos in Hays County, Texas (CSJ No. 0016-03-114). The proposed project would realign entrance and exit ramps, reconstruct frontage roads, make intersection improvements at SH 123, replace frontage road bridges over the San Marcos River and Willow Springs Creek, replace bridges at SH 123/Guadalupe Streets, and construct a new shared-use path along the northbound frontage road to accommodate bicycle and pedestrian use. The total project length is 2.58 miles and the project area encompasses 116.7 acres. AmaTerra conducted the archeological survey under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 7880.

The scope of the work for the survey focused on inspection of the area affected by bridge replacements at the San Marcos River and Willow Creek only. Archeological investigations consisted of a pedestrian survey, excavation of nine shovel tests, and six backhoe trenches within those portions of the Area of Potential Effects (APE) with potential for archeological deposits. Archeologists observed numerous landscape modifications resulting from transportation, commercial, and other earth-moving activities within the APE. However, cultural material associated with two archeological sites was still present at the San Marcos River. Lithic material documented during trenching along the east side of the river is associated with Site 41HY261, which was documented in 1994. One new prehistoric site, 41HY534, was recorded on a terrace west of the river. Site 41HY534 consists of lithic debris and faunal bone fragments. Artifacts associated with Site 41HY261 are not considered to contribute to the eligibility of the site, and Site 41HY534 is not considered eligible within the APE. This report recommends that no additional archeological work within any part of the APE is warranted at this time. No artifacts were collected during this survey. All documents and photographs generated during this survey will be permanently curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory in Austin.

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