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site chronology and function, and specific site boundaries (e . g . , Townsend et . al. 1993 ) . On the other hand, the inventories of identified archaeological resources and the architectural survey properties, with their associated archaeological components, should be useful guides for initially determining the boundaries of the proposed St . Mary' s Rural Historic District (Henry 1999) . After consultation with the archaeologist , staff at the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, and members of the Orange County Historic Commission, the project architectural historian has recommended that a specific portion of the St . Mary' s Road Corridor be considered eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places as a rural historic district (Henry 1999) . St . Mary ' s distinctive rural historic landscape is recognized as illustrating "the overwhelming agricultural tradition of this . area of Orange County through the late eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries " (Henry 1999 :25 ) . The proposed boundaries, based primarily on historic architectural analysis , extend from Strouds Creek and Sunnyside eastwards to the vicinity of the "Gosling " Cabin (Figure I ; see Henry 1999 : Chapter 7) . Henry states that this district is potentially eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places based on three criteria as follows : Criteria A - due to the "historic significance of the land use, transportation, and economic patterns" the study area has retained , such as the Trading Path, judged as "one of the most historically significant Colonial era ' roads in Orange County as well as farms that display the long history of varied agricultural pursuits in Orange County" (Henry ' 1999 : 26) . Criteria B- as the project area "contains buildings and structures related to individuals significant both in the immediate community and in Orange County" such as ilder John Berry, and the home of Robert Walker, an early area Sunnyside , the home of bu settler (Henry 1999 * 26) . Criteria C- due to the study area ' s "collection of resources embodying distinctive architectural types and styles, as we1I as buildings by recognized master craftsmen" (Henry 1999 : 26) . The archaeological resources in the project area could strengthen the potential district nomination. Additional information has been gathered about the Trading Path, adding to arguments for nomination under Criteria A. Additional farmstead sites have also added to our knowledge of agrarian land use and the project area' s settlement pattern. Under Criteria B , comparative archaeological investigations of the Berry and Walker home sites would deepen our understanding of the lifeways of individuals important to the community and to Orange County. Although archaeology would probably not add much supporting data under Criteria C , systematic archaeological investigations have the potential, under Criteria D, to add properties that have "yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history" (e . g . , Townsend et . al. 1993 ) . This presence of numerous archaeological farmstead sites also attests to the agrarian heritage in the St . Marys Project Comdor. Archaeological research has also shown that other categories of sites are not well-represented, if at all, by the inventory of ills , taverns , quarries , and road remnants . In extant buildings . These are cemeteries , m 46