Preservation posts: the online journal of the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Jan. 2015

Preservation Posts - January 2015 Preservation Posts - January 2015

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In this issue: -Message from the Director: Decision-making -2015 Preservation Summit Held in Macon -Archaeological Field Schools near Phinizy Swamp -Staff Profile: Laura Beth Ingle -Upcoming Events
Message from the Director: Decision-making
By Dr. David Crass, Division Director & Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Coming in a future issue of Preservation Posts is a great story about Mary Gregory Jewett, who put Georgia's state historic preservation office on the national map. Jewett oversaw the old Georgia Historical Commission from 1960-1973, including the transition from a largely-autonomous office of the Secretary of State to a component of the Department of Natural Resources, newly formed in 1972-1973 by then-Governor Carter--a bureaucratic achievement that likely was as challenging as any of her preservation goals. I've been reading a lot lately about Ms. Jewett, including several contemporary articles about her that were brought to my attention by her son, George. One of the things that struck me was how, in one sense, much has changed in historic preservation, but in another, nothing has changed.
Many things have changed for the better. We have legal and administrative frameworks established by the 1966 NHPA and its regulations. These provide the superstructure upon which our office's work rests. We have a strong suite of state statutes authorizing many of this office's various programs. Graduate schools turn out young practitioners who are enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and ready to hit the ground running. Our technical knowledge is worlds more sophisticated than it was in 1951, when the old Georgia Historical Commission was created by an act of the Georgia General Assembly with the intention of focusing on memorializing Dr. Crawford Long and the Civil War (with no funding). We recognize that the wonderful diversity that makes this country unique should be reflected in how we approach historic preservation. These are just a few of the things that have changed.
What hasn't changed is that administering a state historic preservation office involves hard choices. These choices usually aren't characterized by a clear cut, 100% good vs. 100% bad dichotomy. This is equally true of our sister divisions, whether the choices involve formulating deer harvest regulations or setting opening and closing day for the commercial shrimping season. These hard choices are simply one aspect of public agency decision making. As one of my former bosses used to say, "if the choices were clear cut and easy, someone would have already made them." At HPD (again, like our sister resource management divisions) we strive to make decisions such that we can "get to yes"--but always hewing to those guideposts that mark our federal and state responsibilities, whether they be the Secretary of Interior's Standards, National Register criteria, or protocols for consulting with federal agencies. Making data-driven, consistent, and defensible decisions is a primary responsibility.
This brings me back to Mary Gregory Jewett. She had to make a lot of tough decisions in a time when the national historic preservation program was just getting on its feet and state priorities often lay elsewhere. She had to advocate for scarce financial resources in what was very much a man's world. She successfully led the transition of her office from one that largely operated independently to one that was part of a much larger organization with a very wide span of responsibility. Did she lose some battles, and have to compromise on specific issues in order to reach a larger goal? Of course--that's just part of the price one pays for being, as Theodore Roosevelt put it, "in the arena." Yet her accomplishments far outweigh her occasional defeat. Mary Gregory Jewett was able to make a lasting difference in historic preservation because, as a colleague put it in a 1975 Journal-Constitution Magazine profile, "She's conservative. She doesn't rush into things. She won't take a stand until all of the data is in." Another said she was "effective without being aggressive." Building an agency culture on that legacy is our goal here at HPD.
2015 Preservation Summit Held in Macon
By Marcy Breffle, Outreach Program Assistant
The annual event was again held at the historic Hay House in Macon. Attendees were given a full tour, including ascending to the cupola (right).
On Thursday, January 22, HPD staff members sat down with nearly 25 preservationists from around the state at the annual Preservation Summit. The event was co-sponsored by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and held at the historic Hay House in Macon, a mid-nineteenth century house managed by the Georgia Trust. The Preservation Summit brought together preservation non-profit and state agency partners to discuss and share preservation successes, challenges, and programming plans for the upcoming year.
The meeting began with a report from HPD division director David Crass, followed by Georgia Trust president and CEO Mark McDonald. Participating organizations discussed recent legislation, the general budget, and the tax incentives program. Preservation non-profit and state agency partners then gave brief presentations on ongoing local and regional efforts. Representatives were on hand from Historic Macon, Middle Georgia Regional Commission, Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Buckhead Heritage Society, Historic Savannah Foundation, Historic Augusta, Georgia Alliance of Preservation Commissions, and the Cherokee County Historical Society.
The conversation continued over lunch in the beautiful music room. Following the end of presentations, participants had the opportunity to tour the Hay House with director Jonathan Poston and view a recently completed room renovation. Completed in 1859, the Italian Renaissance Revival style Hay House is considered one of Georgia's most distinguished structures. The chance to tour the historic house and catch a view of the surrounding Macon skyline from the cupola was a highlight for many participants.
We thank our partners at the Georgia Trust and the dedicated staff of the Hay House for their hospitality and support. In addition, a big thanks to the nonprofit and state agency partners who joined us in Macon.
More information about local non-profit partners is available here. Information about the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is available here. Information on visiting the Hay House is available here.
Archaeological Field Schools near Phinizy Swamp
By Jennifer Bedell, Archaeology Compliance Unit Manager

University of West Georgia students excavate a site near Phinizy Swamp.
During the summers of 2013 and 2014, archaeologists Ashley Smallwood and Thomas Jennings of the University of West Georgia conducted archaeological field schools near Phinizy Swamp in Richmond County, Georgia. The field school was designed to locate and investigate some of the earliest human occupations of Georgia. North America's earliest inhabitants are associated with the Paleoindian hunter-gatherers who were present beginning around 13,000 years ago. Although several Paleoindian projectile points (arrowheads) have been recorded from the ground surface throughout Georgia, less than a dozen sites are recorded in Richmond County. Little is known about the actual lifeways of these early mobile communities.
Phinizy Swamp is located along the Fall Line, a 20-mile-wide geologic boundary spanning the state from Augusta to Columbus. The Fall Line separates the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions of Georgia, which each have different types of plant and animal communities. The Fall Line is considered a transition zone that has a mixture of resources from both regions and therefore would have been important to early inhabitants of Georgia because of the concentration and diversity of resources they would have had easy access to.
The 2013 field school excavations revealed a total of 258 artifacts indicating human activity in the area as early as the Early Archaic period, beginning about 10,000 years ago, continuing through the end of the Late Archaic period, approximately 3,000 years ago. The majority of the artifacts located were stone tool projectile points (see examples at right). One interesting feature had a concentration of burned artifacts and is believed to be a hearth (firepit). The presence of steatite (soapstone) slabs and chunks suggest the hearth was used for cooking. Steatite is a softer metamorphic rock that is known to have excellent heating properties and was often carved into bowl shapes for direct cooking over a fire. Steatite slabs were often heated and used as cooking stones, a practice that was prevalent throughout the Savannah River Valley Region beginning approximately 5,000 years ago.
Artifacts from the 2014 excavations are currently being processed for identification. Although the majority of the artifacts identified thus far are Early Archaic stone projectile points, at least one point was located below the Early Archaic stratigraphic levels, and is tentatively identified as a Dalton point. Dalton projectile points date to approximately 12,000 years ago and are associated with the Late Paleoindian time period. West Georgia has planned additional excavations at the site for later this year in hopes of finding a larger Paleoindian component at the site that will help inform us about the lifeways of the earliest humans living in Georgia. More information about the Phinizy Swamp is available here. More information about archaeology in Georgia is available here.
Staff Profile: Laura Beth Ingle
Architectural Historian

Laura Beth at Auldbrass, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed plantation in Yemassee, South Carolina.
Laura Beth joined HPD in the spring of 2014. She works primarily with the National Register program but also evaluates historic resources surveys and reviews tax rehabilitation projects for their eligibility to the National Register. Before arriving at HPD, she worked for a consulting firm near Chattanooga. Laura Beth holds a Master's degree in Historic Preservation from the joint program with Clemson University and the College of Charleston and a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Tennessee.
How did you become involved in historic preservation? It seems like almost all preservationists stumble upon the field of preservation, and the same happened with me. After a few years of working in the publishing business in Texas, I decided to look at different career options related to my first passion architecture. While I was checking out graduate programs in architecture, I noticed several schools offering degrees in historic preservation and thought, "this can be a job?! It sounds perfect!" It combines buildings and people's stories. So, I bid adieu to the Lonestar State and headed to Charleston, South Carolina to study preservation in the city that first sparked my interest in old buildings while vacationing there as a kid.
What do you like most about your job? Historic preservation protects the places we live, the places we visit the places that matter to us and I think that's important. I truly like helping people and (hopefully) making a difference. I'm also a lifelong super-nerd, and poring over historic maps, house plans, and photographs is incredibly interesting to me. Researching is like detective work, and it challenges your brain to think of new ways to find answers. You string these clues together and you have the history of a building, the history of a family, the history of a place.
What do you do on a typical day? One thing I love about my job is I really don't have a typical day. Many different duties comprise the architectural historian role here at HPD. In the morning I might be researching a property using our GNAHRGIS website and survey files, then talking to a constituent about how the National Register program works in the afternoon. The next day I might be discussing the eligibility of a property for the National Register with other HPD staff members or editing a nomination to send to the National Park Service. Variety it's the spice of preservation life!
What do you like to do outside the office? I'm new to Atlanta and have recently moved into a house in Grant Park...so I'm always exploring the city and my new neighborhood. I probably rely way too heavily on Google Maps, but often intentionally don't follow its direction just to see what I'll find. I enjoy reading (see super-nerd status above), doing yoga and Zumba (yeah!), hiking (I grew up in the Smokies, after all!), and drinking craft beer (growlers are my new favorite thing). I also love to see live music and to travel...and I especially enjoy combining these two. Meeting up with friends and family from across the country for a vacation planned around a concert or festival is pretty perfect in my opinion.
Upcoming Events
March 24-26, 2015 - Section 106: An Introduction - Atlanta Learn the basics of project review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. This seminar emphasizes practicalities-how to avoid pitfalls and victimization by myths. Discuss recent changes in regulations and procedures, with an emphasis on coordination with the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws. Seminar held in cooperation with the National Preservation Institute and the Georgia Department of Transportation. Details and registration information are available here.
April 10, 2015 - Georgia National Register Review Board meeting - Atlanta The Georgia National Register Review Board will meet next on April 10, 2015 in the DNR board room at 2 Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive, S.E., Suite 1252, East Tower, Atlanta, Georgia 30334. Please RSVP to Lynn.Speno@dnr.state.ga.us if you are interested in attending.
April 10-11, 2015 - Historic Preservation Commission Training Dahlonega Held in partnership with the Georgia Alliance of Preservation Commissions. Registration is now open! Download the registration packet here (PDF).
www.georgiashpo.org
Title image: University of West Georgia students excavate a site near Phinizy Swamp. Copyright 2015 Georgia Historic Preservation Division, All rights reserved.
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