Cultural Resources Phase I Survey- Ravenna Timber Cutting Units

Lawhon and Associates, Inc. staff served as principal investigator and field supervisor for a cultural resources survey of 437 acres (177 ha) in the western portion of the Ohio Army National Guard Ravenna Training and Logistics Site (also known as the Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant), Newton Falls, Ohio.  The survey area consisted of woodlots bounded by roads built by the initial military construction conducted by the U.S. Army during World War II. Given the number of past investigations on much of the land within the Ravenna Training and Logistics Site, staff followed a predictive model (based on previous investigations) to guide the fieldwork.  The fieldwork included visual inspection and shovel testing of undisturbed and relatively level areas and resulted in the inventory of eight historic archaeological sites (33 Po 494–501).  None of the eight sites inventoried during the Phase I cultural resources fieldwork met the National Register of Historic Places Criteria for Evaluation.  Most of these sites appeared to be farmstead remnants previously recorded on historic maps of the area.  However, all buildings and related structures were dismantled, and all below-ground structures (wells, cisterns) were filled in during the construction of the base.  Although the sites are associated with an important historic context, (pre-World War II agriculture in the Western Reserve), the construction of the base adversely affected the sites’ integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The fieldwork also noted a variety of disturbances within the project area, including modification of the landscape (and historic site integrity) by the initial construction of the Ravenna Army base, and a number of subsequent disturbances, such as logging activity.