A Network of Significant Sites

The Greenway Study area benefits from a high density of cultural resources already open to public access in the form of parks and historic sites. Within the River itself, evidence of prehistoric people can be seen in the five identified fish weirs in Cobb and Gwinnett Counties. The interactions between historic native tribes and early Euroamerican settlers are exemplified at parks like Standing Peachtree and McIntosh Reserve. Preserved rural landscapes can be found in the Roscoe-Dunaway Gardens Historic District in Chattahoochee Hill Country and sites like Hyde Farm in the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area. The Greenway offers the opportunity to connect these valuable cultural resources to one another and to the River, in a way that reveals the changing human relationship with the Chattahoochee. This represents an invaluable opportunity to reimagine the interpretation of these resources – not as a series of isolated sites of historical significance, but as a network of historic and cultural destinations that relied upon the resources of the Chattahoochee River and its tributaries. Emphasis should be placed on connecting these sites to the River, and linking these sites to one another.

While numerous resources have been identified within the area of the Chattahoochee Greenway project, there are undoubtably resources yet to be found. Prehistoric rock shelter sites often lie on steep terrain that often avoid scrutiny during survey, and the expansive landscape of war creates features and associated artifact scatters that can go undetected. The significance of potentially undiscovered resources can impact planning processes, and the location of identified resources can inform the planning process as a whole. The Greenway Study must propose flexible strategies to accommodate and integrate new resource discoveries that occur throughout project development. At moments, the Greenway may intentionally bypass or buffer highly sensitive sites to protect these valuable resources.