Cultural Landscape Report: Sope Creek
Wheeler Byrd B. 2009. Cultural Landscape Report: Sope Creek. Cultural Landscape Report. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office. Atlanta, Georgia
The major park resources documenting Sope Creek include the recent Historic Resource Study (2007), a General Management Plan (2009), and A Cultural Resource Inventory: Archeological Sites (1980). The site is well-documented in secondary sources including local newspapers and land use studies, though primary documentation is limited. Many land and business records burned during the Union army occupation in 1864. Prehistoric and archeological information for Chattahoochee River NRA is partial and restricted, though Sope Creek is included in surveys and site reports. Research at the park and Southeast Regional Office (SERO) provided aerial photography, historic maps, interpretation, and site plans. CLR research extended to secondary sources located in local libraries and archives providing information on local history, ecology, and geography.6 Sources at the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum at the Georgia Institute of Technology offered valuable information about the process and manufacture of paper in the nineteenth century. The existing conditions of Sope Creek were documented in March and April 2008 during site visits with park staff. Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping in December 2008 provided data for feature locations and was added to park Geographical Information Systems (GIS) maps. Aerial photography provided information on vegetative cover and surrounding development.7 The GIS data was added to existing park data and exported to AutoCAD for map production. Other field work included documentary photography and conditions assessment. This CLR addresses significant features of the Sope Creek site and changes to the landscape since its prehistoric settlement and industrial development, together identifying the evolution of the site. Understanding both the change and continuity of the cultural landscape provides the CLR with a basis to recommend comprehensive treatment for the extant landscape features remaining from the period of significance.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Wheeler Byrd, Beth
- Date of Issue
- 2009-12
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office
- Units
- CHAT , SER
- Keywords
- Cherokee, Cocharn Shoals, Creek War, Dam, ferries, field stone construction, Forest, Georgia, Gorges, industrial buildings, mill, paper, political boundary, Pulp, raceway, rag factory, retaining wall, Tributary, waterwheel
- Subjects
- CRIS-CL: 550155: Sope Creek Ruins