"Cultural Resources Survey for the 185-Acre Lakeline Park Phase I Impro" by Joey O'Keefe

Home > Research Projects and Centers > Center for Regional Heritage Research > Index of Texas Archaeology > Vol.

Article Title

Cultural Resources Survey for the 185-Acre Lakeline Park Phase I Improvements Project

Authors

Agency

Texas Historical Commission

Abstract

From September to October of 2019, aci consulting conducted a cultural resources survey for the Lakeline Park Phase I Improvements project in Williamson County, Texas. The Area of Potential Effect (APE) for this project consisted of a 185-acre (74.87hectare) area on City of Cedar Park-owned land located approximately 330 feet (100.58 meters) west of the intersection of US Highway 183 and Avery Ranch Boulevard. The pedestrian survey was conducted within the entire 185-acre project area, except for the approximately 28 acres previously surveyed in 2002 in the westernmost area of the APE. The survey did not include the Soil Conservation Service Site No. 6 Reservoir (the reservoir). In total, 10 cultural resources were recorded as a result of the survey, and the previously recorded site 41WM1036 located within the APE was revisited. Newly recorded cultural resources identified include one historic-age stacked rock fence, one multi component site, three prehistoric-age sites, three prehistoric-age isolated finds, and two historic-age isolated finds. Based on the 2019 site revisit for 41WM1036, the entire site was destroyed during the construction of a raised berm and retention pond located southeast of an apartment complex adjacent to the APE. Site 41WM1412 is a multicomponent artifact scatter consisting of approximately 20-30 hole-in-top cans, one shard of aqua glass, and one stage II-III chert biface fragment. Site 41WM1413 is a small, prehistoric-age lithic scatter consisting of two chert tertiary stage flakes. Site 41WM1414 is a small, prehistoric-age lithic scatter consisting of one chert secondary stage flake. Site 41WM1415 is a small, prehistoric-age lithic scatter consisting of one chert stage IV-V biface fragment, possibly a projectile point base. None of these newly recorded cultural resources were considered eligible for listing on the NRHP or SAL. As this was a non-collect survey, no artifacts were collected as part of this survey and therefore no artifact curation was required. Site 41WM1416 is a partial nineteenth-century rock fence located within the APE that was constructed as early as the late 1840s, but no later than the 1870s. The rock fence is approximately 2,331 feet (710.5 meters) long, ranges between approximately 2 to 4 feet (0.61 to 1.22 meters) in height, and runs parallel to and north of the southern boundary of the 1839 Richard Duty Survey before turning north to intersect the Buttercup Creek drainage. The wall continues north on the north side of the creek and closely follows the east line of the Duty Survey. The southern portion of the wall also parallels a formerly open cultivated field that extends north from the wall to Buttercup Creek. The northern portion of the wall lays adjacent to and east of formerly cultivated, cleared fields that lay north of Buttercup Creek and south of a housing development. In November of 2019, Martha Doty Freeman, Historian, was hired to assist aci personnel consulting in researching the history of the property on which 41WM1416 is located and assessing the NRHP eligibility of the site under Criteria A through D. Based on the results of Freeman’s archival research, along with interviews of family members associated with previous landowners, the rock fence was determined to be eligible for listing on the NRHP under Criteria A though D. However, approximately 1,050 feet (320 meters) of the stone fence extending north from the north bank of Buttercup Creek to the northern boundary of the APE has been severely disturbed, with some portions of the wall completely removed, or no longer visually recognizable. The remaining 1,280 feet (390 meters) located in the southern part of the APE extending south/southeast from the south bank of Buttercup Creek maintains the highest degree of structural integrity. Based on the varying degrees of structural integrity, aci recommends the southern portion of the stone fence be considered for listing on the NRHP under Criteria A though D, and a SAL under Criteria 2 and 4 within Subchapter D of the Antiquities Code of Texas. Although there are no current plans to remove or modify site 41WM1416 as a result of the Phase I Improvements Project, the site would be directly impacted by the increased amount of traffic within the area as a result of the project, and potential future project phases, consequently increasing the site’s exposure to the general population. Included with this report is a commitment of avoidance letter for 41WM1416 signed by the City of Cedar Park.