Short Report On The Archeological Investigations For Haskell County\u27s Paint Creek Water Improvements Project, Haskell County, Texas

Hicks & Company archaeologists, working on behalf of HowCo, Incorporated, and Haskell County (the County), recently conducted an intensive archaeological survey for the County’s proposed Paint Creek Water Improvements Project, located east of downtown Haskell in Haskell County, Texas. According to current design plans, the proposed project consists of the installation of a new water well and approximately 3,670 meters (m) of new, 15 centimeterdiameter, waterline within a 10 meter-wide corridor (Appendix A: Design Plans). Depth of impacts for the waterline installation is expected to be no more than 1.25 meters below ground surface. The project will be funded through a Texas Community Block Grant Program, as managed by the Texas Department of Agriculture, a political entity of the state of Texas, and is therefore subject to the Antiquities Code of Texas (ACT). This project was initially reviewed by the Texas Historical Commission (THC) in 2015. Following this review, the THC recommended that archeological survey was warranted for the waterline segment located along Callaway Road between State Highway (SH) 380 and East Road, a distance of approximately 1,540 m (Figure 1). According to the THC, this segment had never been surveyed and, being adjacent to Buffalo Creek, is located within an area of high probability for cultural resources (letter Wolfe to Howard May 6, 2015: See Appendix B: Regulatory Correspondence). Totaling approximately 16 field hours, archeological investigations were conducted on June 22 and 23, 2015, and consisted of pedestrian survey of the Callaway Road segment, supplemented with 13 shovel tests, all of which were negative for cultural materials. In addition to these shovel tests, one backhoe trench was excavated just south of Buffalo Creek. No artifactual materials greater than 50 years in age, features, or archeological sites were encountered during this investigation. Based on the results of the current survey, it is recommended that no archeological historic properties (36 CFR 800.16(1)) or State Antiquities Landmarks (SALs) (13 TAC 26.12) will be affected by the proposed project and no further archeological investigations are recommended prior to construction. Josh Haefner, as Principal Investigator, and Gregg Cestaro, as Project Archeologist, conducted the investigations and authored the report. As Geographic Information System (GIS) specialist, Jerod McCleland produced all maps and graphics. In addition to this Project Description and Management Summary, this report includes sections on Environmental Setting, Methodology, Results of the Field Investigations, and Conclusions and Recommendations. Also included, as appendices, are design plans illustrating the various design segments (Appendix A), regulatory correspondence (Appendix B), and shovel test and backhoe trench locations (Appendix C). All project-generated notes, forms, and photographs will be curated at the Center for Archeological Studies (CAS) in San Marcos, Texas. This report is offered in partial fulfillment of Texas Antiquities Permit #7302