Atmos Energy’s $6 million relocation of a major pipeline in Greenwood has found itself in the midst of local Civil War and Native American history.
The natural gas company has had to redesign the pipeline’s proposed route at least once in an effort to not disturb artifacts.
The oldest of these artifacts — remnants of Native American civilizations from thousands of years ago — are probably not at risk, says Steele Robbins IV, an entomologist, plant pathologist and local history and archaeology buff.
“There are so many sites ... it is significant — but they are not disturbing anything by digging through it,” he said.
In January, Atmos began to install 8-inch steel pipe for a below-ground transmission line that will replace one that presently runs below Park Avenue.
The stretch being replaced is part of a pipeline that runs from Greenville to Grenada.
The new pipeline, whose route is designed to avoid heavily populated or commercially developed areas, runs about 6 miles — from the intersection of U.S. 82 and U.S. 49 on the western edge of Greenwood, through largely agricultural land bordering the northern side of the Tallahatchie River, before tying back in near Viking Range’s manufacturing facilities on the eastern edge of the city. Along the way, the pipeline will cross two rivers — the Tallahatchie near Fort Pemberton and the Yalobusha near Point Leflore — and Money Road.
The work is expected to be finished by June.
Along areas next to the Tallahatchie River, shards of pottery, arrowheads and other artifacts from Native American settlements of thousands of years ago are common.
“It is just everywhere,” said Robbins.
“The fact that they are digging along the roadways, they are going to come and hit some of these spots,” Robbins said. “The thing that is sensitive, or if they hit something that they really need to worry about, would be if they hit skeletal remains.”
Robbins said, however, that is unlikely as the area is not believed to be a burial ground.
Robert Lesley, public affairs director for Atmos in Mississippi, said it is routine for the company, when it has a digging project, to work with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and other like organizations to avoid running into historical markers.
“Whenever we plan a project like this, we work with firms who are experts at researching not only the current topography of the land but also what the area has been used for in the past,” he said. “They look at current and historical maps and sample the soil along the proposed route. Then, they put all of that information together and determine the best route for the pipeline.”
Lesley said the gas company’s main concern with the pipeline project was that the original layout came close to a sunken ship from the Civil War.
“We worked with firms with years of experience in land and right-of-way acquisition to finalize the route for the pipeline,” he said. “As we began to work with several federal and state regulatory agencies to acquire permits for the pipeline, we determined that the planned route came close to the remains of a Civil War-era battleship submerged in the Tallahatchie River.”
The company ultimately made adjustments to the route during the design phase of the project, he said.
This “battleship” may have actually been the Star of the West, a onetime civilian steamship that figured prominently in the Battle of Fort Pemberton in 1863, but without knowing the exact location and seeing the artifact, Robbins said he couldn’t be sure.
The Star of the West and several other vessels were intentionally sunk by Confederate forces in the Tallahatchie River to prevent a Union flotilla from reaching Vicksburg during the failed Yazoo Pass Expedition.
According to Robbins, after Vicksburg ultimately fell, Fort Pemberton was taken down. Nine luxury steamboats — “the finest boats in Mississippi, “ Robbins said — and five other vessels were ordered to be scuttled and sunk to avoid being captured by Union troops.
The remains of these 14 ships are all along the rivers around Greenwood. One of them could also have been the obstacle to Atmos’ original route, Robbins said.
Lesley said pieces of an old fort were also found. This could have been one of the sister forts to Fort Pemberton, Robbins said.
• Contact Lauren Randall at 581-7239 or lrandall@gwcommonwealth.com.
