Article Title

Archaeological Survey of the Proposed Crawford Memorial Park Improvements Dallas County, Texas

Authors

Philip Fisher
Kathryn A. Cross

Agency

Texas Historical Commission

Abstract

The City of Dallas is proposing to improve the existing Crawford Memorial Park in central-southeastern Dallas County, Texas. DIPS Environmental, Inc., contracted with AR Consultants, Inc. to conduct an intensive archaeological survey of Crawford Memorial Park under the authority of Texas Antiquities Permit number 8747. Crawford Memorial Park totals approximately 265 acres. However, modern landscape modifications including a number of sports fields, the Crawford Aquatic Center, parking lots, cement walking paths, a playground, pavilion, bathrooms, and a City of Dallas Park and Recreation Maintenance Facility exist within the park boundary and project area. As Crawford Memorial Park has never been surveyed for archaeological resources, the area of the park where these modern landscape modifications have occurred, approximately 105 acres, was subject to a reconnaissance pedestrian survey without shovel testing. Approximately 160 acres of Crawford Memorial Park was subject to an intensive pedestrian survey with shovel testing. In total, 57 shovel tests were excavated during the systematic field inspection on March 5-6, 11, 14, and 19-20, 2019.

The archaeological potential for prehistoric and historic cultural resources had been considered low except for a known earthen berm and floodwater overflow feature that was constructed to dam the old Prairie Creek channel in 1961. This historic site, 41DL549, was the only site recorded during survey. Apart from 41DL549 no cultural resources were identified in the shovel tests or on the surface. Given the results of this survey, AR Consultants, Inc. recommends that further cultural resource investigations are unnecessary for this project, and requests that the Texas Historical Commission and the Fort Worth District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concur with this recommendation. The field notes, photographs, and photo logs are curated at the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

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