Mound City, Chillicothe OH

You may or may not have heard of Chillicothe Ohio. I had a random boss who was from there, but otherwise it remained well within the shadowy mists of 'who cares.' It's located where the rolling hills of eastern Ohio smooth out into the prairie. And the surrounding area contains a number of mounds.

The group who constructed the mounds around Chillicothe are called the Hopewell culture. Although they shared the geographic area of the Adena culture (who built Grave Creek Mound, the Hopewell culture came later - 200 BCE - 500 CE. And whereas the Adena built one-off large conical mounds, the Hopewell built monumental earthworks in the form of squares, circles, and other geometric shapes.

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, run by the NPS, administers a number of the mounds surrounding Chillicothe. Mound City Group is the one with the most impressive earthworks and the visitors center. As with all of the mounds I visited, Mound City is situated along a river (the Scioto). And it contains 23 earthen mounds, each containing burial remains along with artifacts, such as copper figures, mica, arrowheads, shells, and pipes.

The recent history of this Mound City is a bit appalling. During World War I the US Army constructed a training camp, Camp Sherman, not just near the mounds but right on the site, leveling all but the Central Mound. In the 1920s the camp was torn down and the mounds were excavated and restored. The NPS took over in 1992 and put in a small but informative museum.

But Mound City isn't the only mound in town. As a matter of fact there's indeed a mound right in one of the neighborhoods of Chillicothe -- Story Mound. It was built by the earlier Adena culture and is, as you'd expect from the Adena culture, a simple conical mound. The suburban siting is unusual - you'd almost expect the mound to have its own mailbox.

And if you're traveling westward on US 50 you can see another, albeit less impressive, mound - Seip Mound. Built by the Hopewell culture, the central mound used to stand amid sprawling earthworks. But farmers prefer their fields flat, so much of the structures have been lost to the plow. But the mound still stands, and is just a quick visit from the highway.

Chillicothe itself, like most of the small to middle-sized towns in the US, doesn't warrant a visit unless you've got family there. But the ancient history that surrounds it makes it a worthy detour.

Next, the Serpent Mound.