Cultural Resource Survey of Springfield Canal, Chatham County, Georgia

摘要

Research on the Springfield Canal project, Chatham County, Georgia, consisted of a historic documents search and an archeological survey. The project area is on the western fringes of the city of Savannah in lowlands once drained by Musgrove Creek and its tributaries. The present Springfield Canal is the result of incremental development over a period of 150 years. A 200-foot-wide corridor along the existing 4.7-mile-long canal right-of-way was surveyed. No prehistoric sites were encountered during the field survey, but several significant historical features were identified. A segment of the Savannah and Ogeechee Canal channel now occupied by the Springfield Canal represents a significant episode in the history and development of the city of Savannah. That canal segment contains remains of two brick locks constructed between 1824 and 1831. Both the locks and the intervening canal segment should be considered eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Two brick Central of Georgia Railroad viaducts (constructed in 1852 and 1859, respectively) cross this canal segment. These viaducts are within and part of the Central of Georgia Railroad Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities, a Historic Landmark District.