Archeological Testing of the North Bend Site (16SMY132) and Survey of the Todd Area Levee, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana

In September 1991 the Louisiana Geological Survey conducted a cultural resources survey of the proposed Todd Area Levee Project located on the west side of Bayou Sale in St. Mary Parish. Additionally, testing was conducted at the North Bend Site (16SMY 132) located at the intersection of Bayou Sale and the Intracoastal Waterway. The work was performed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District. The levee area survey included intensive pedestrian survey within the project area, augmented with systematic shovel testing. No sites were located in the Todd Levee Area and construction is not expected to have any impact on cultural resources in that project area. Since buried landforms in the project area have the potential for containing prehistoric sites, it has been recommended that during or after construction the newly exposed surfaces and dredged materials be carefully examined for prehistoric materials. Testing at the North Bend site included three excavation units and a systematic series of posthole tests. The work showed that the archeological remains that are at the North Bend site are associated with the former North Bend Plantation, and may have a date range possibly as early as the 1830s and extending to the 1950s. The part of the project area on the west side of Bayou Sale will not affect any significant cultural resources. Testing in the project area on the east side of Bayou Sale revealed the presence of part of a tenant house foundation, and intact historic midden deposits. North Bend site, Todd plantation, Bayou sale, Historic plantation.