Archeological Survey of a Portion of Old Velasco (41B0125) for the Village of Surfside Beach Proposed Boat Ramp Facility, Brazoria County, Texas

In February 2006 Prewitt and Associates, Inc., conducted an archeological survey of a 5.5-acre property slated for development as a boat ramp and parking lot by the Village of Surfside Beach in Brazoria County, Texas. The property is at the southern end of the Village of Surfside Beach, between City Hall and the U.S. Coast Guard station. The tract overlaps with the western edge of the townsite of Old Velasco (41BO125), which was a prominent port city at the mouth of the Brazos River from the 1820s through 1875. Excavation of 25 trenches revealed historic artifacts associated with Old Velasco in the southern portion of the project area, but no remains were found over the northern three-quarters of the property. Most of the culture-bearing deposits were extensively disturbed and covered with a thick layer of artificial fill. Three bone clusters found in one trench probably represent intact dump features from late-nineteenth-century Velasco. Due to the disturbed nature of the deposits, no further archeological work is recommended