Between 1 and 400 CE, Hopewell culture dominated southeastern Ohio and left behind evidence of its advanced intellect in the form of enormous and elaborate earthworks.
The earthworks, mounds made of soil, exhibit precise geometric enclosures replicated across hundreds of miles. Some align with annual sun cycles and the more complex 18.6-year lunar cycle. The earthworks tell a story of human genius that archeologists still study today.
“It is the most concentrated area of earthworks in the whole entire world. Yes, right here in Southern Ohio,” says Ross-Chillicothe Convention & Visitor’s Bureau executive director Melody Young.
In 2023, the significance of eight Hopewell earthworks was recognized globally as Ohio’s first United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage site. The Great Barrier Reef, the Taj Mahal and 1,223 other sites across the globe share the same honor.
“The people that we did remove from here, I hope now they know that we’re honoring them,” Young says.
The National Park Service manages five locations in Chillicothe: Mound City Group, Hopewell Mound Group, Seip Earthworks, Hopeton Earthworks and High Bank Earthworks. Ohio History Connection manages Octagon Earthworks and Great Circle Earthworks, located in Newark, and Fort Ancient Earthworks in Oregonia.
Young says there has been a 25% increase in attendance at the Chillicothe sites since the UNESCO inscription. But Young notes the more significant change is the collaborations with organizations, government officials and developers to protect and enhance World Heritage.
For example, Young believes the designation was key in receiving $35 million from the Appalachian Grant Program in May 2024.
The grant money will fund construction of a visitor’s center that will honor the UNESCO designation and improve visitors’ experience at four of the Hopewell earthworks sites, including
- new signage,
- restrooms,
- construction of a pavilion
- and a bike trail extension, among other projects, according to the 2024 Ross-Chillicothe Convention & Visitors Bureau Annual Report.
Court Sides with Octagon
In January, the Octagon Earthworks site is open for full public access for the first time after Ohio History Connection purchased Moundbuilders Country Club’s lease on the property, which it held since 1910, according to its website.
Ohio History Connection initiated a court case in 2018 to acquire the lease, eventually making its way to the Supreme Court of Ohio in 2022, which upheld the decisions of the Fifth District Court of Appeals and Common Pleas Court.
Newark Earthworks historic site manager Sarah Hinkleman describes the possibilities as endless. Part of the purchase included the golf course’s clubhouse, which will be the new visitor’s center, including interactive exhibit spaces, a retail store and meeting spaces for community meetings and lecture series.
Because of the golf course’s long-standing lease, archeological surveys of the Octagon Earthworks have been minimal. But with plans to remove sand traps, an old pool and dying trees, Hinkleman says a team will perform geophysical surveys, which show what’s under the ground without lifting a shovel.
“Our goal is to restore this property to what it would have looked like, or as close to as what it would have looked like 1,000, 2,000 years ago,” Hinkleman says, unable to contain her smile.
For Chief Glenna Wallace of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, the new preservation of Octagon Earthworks marks an end to her 18-year-old mission.
“For many, the highlight was 2023, when we went to Saudi Arabia, and we had eight of our ancestral mounds designated as World Heritage Sites, but that didn’t satisfy me because we still had that golf course on top of Newark Earthworks mounds,” Wallace says.
Wallace learned about the Newark earthworks in 2007 after traveling to Ohio to attend a lecture from “Tecumseh: A Life” author John Sugden at Ohio State University. The lecture also included a tour of the Newark Earthworks, a place that Wallace never knew existed.
And she was almost denied the opportunity to see the earthworks because of a golf tournament that day. After she insisted on seeing the mounds, her life was forever changed.
“I walked down the steps crying and thinking of the Scripture: ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,’” Wallace says, “And I walk down those steps saying, ‘I cannot be silent about this.’”
True to her word, Wallace’s outspoken support for preserving those sacred mounds has helped reconnect the Eastern Shawnee with their Ohio roots and garnered greater inclusion in decision-making.
Hinkleman describes sites like the Great Circle and the Octagon earthworks as persistent places. “Places that are special, have a special quality and remain special, maybe in different ways, but people keep coming back to them, era after era, cultural period after cultural period,” Hinkleman says.
In this era, people will continue to visit the earthworks to appreciate their rich history. Though the sites are no longer in active use, the UNESCO designation and Ohio History Connection and National Park Service’s commitment to protecting the sites guarantees the Hopewell earthworks’ legacy will persist for years to come.