"Archaeological Deep Testing of the Nabors Tract, the Tomball OilField," by Richard Thompson Stark

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Article Title

Archaeological Deep Testing of the Nabors Tract, the Tomball OilField, and Approximately 1 Mile of Streamin Harris County, Texas

Authors

Richard Thompson Stark

Agency

Texas Historical Commission

Abstract

In March 2020, Berg-Oliver Associates, Inc. contracted with Gray & Pape, Inc., of Houston, Texas, to perform a cultural resources survey of property proposed for conveyance improvements and regional stormwater detention development in Harris County, Texas. The proposed property is located immediately west of the western Terminus of Holderrieth Road, in the southwest portion of Tomball, Harris County, Texas. The project Area of Potential Effects is defined as an approximately 251-hectare (620-acre) area. It is understood that prior archaeological research and field efforts have been completed on portions of the current Area of Potential Effects and a primary assumption of this current archaeological endeavor is that those pedestrian survey and systematic shovel testing projects were adequate to assist Gray & Pape, Inc. in preparing this report for the completion of agency review for the Area of Potential Effects (Uecker et al. 2016; McLeod et al. 2018). For project permitting purposes, the lead federal agency for the project has been identified as the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, in coordination with Harris County Flood Control District and the Texas Historical Commission. A Texas Antiquities Permit (9332) was received prior to the commencement of fieldwork. The wetlands were mapped and flagged prior to fieldwork under SWG-2014-00651. All fieldwork and reporting activities were completed with reference to state (the Antiquities Code of Texas and the Council of Texas Archaeologists) and federal guidelines. No diagnostic nor non-diagnostic artifacts were collected in the course of the current survey. As a project permitted through the Texas Historical Commission, however, Gray & Pape, Inc. submitted project records to the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. Prior to fieldwork, desktop research was performed to identify any previously recorded archaeological surveys, sites, cemeteries, National Register properties, or historical markers within the Area of Potential Effects or 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) of its boundary. This research determined that previously recorded Sites 41HR1174, 41HR1173, 41HR1007, 41HR1006, 41HR1129, 41HR1130, and 41HR1131 are located within or adjacent to the current project. Fieldwork took place in March 2020 and required 425 work hours to complete. Field investigation consisted of systematic subsurface archaeological backhoe testing, photographic documentation, and mapping. A total of 23 backhoe trenches were excavated, of which 5 were positive for buried cultural materials. The Texas Historical Commission and United States Army Corps of Engineers requested revisiting 41HR1173 with subsurface trench testing and throughout the Area of Potential Effects, with a focus on the stream terraces, to determine if any newly recorded resources could be identified (Martin 2019). Strategic mechanical deep tests with a backhoe took place in locations of the project where planned impacts could potentially encounter deep alluvial soils or buried cultural materials. That said, this archaeological deep testing assisted Gray & Pape, Inc. in determining the extent of the previously documented historic properties within the Area of Potential Effects, as well as in determining if any deeply buried cultural materials exist within the Area of Potential Effects. Positive subsurface archaeological tests during this project consisted of four abandoned steel pipes and three clay bricks. These cultural materials relate to 41HR1173, which is recommended here as Not Eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and no further work is recommended.