Grave Creek Mound
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| Grave Creek Mound | |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| U.S. National Historic Landmark | |
 Grave Creek Mound in 2006
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| Location: | Tomlinson and 9th Streets, Moundsville, West Virginia |
| Coordinates: | 39°55′00″N 80°44′42″W / 39.91676°N 80.744978°WCoordinates: 39°55′00″N 80°44′42″W / 39.91676°N 80.744978°W |
| Governing body: | State |
| Added to NRHP: | October 15, 1966[1] |
| Designated NHL: | July 19, 1964[2] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 66000751[1] |
At 62 feet (19 m) high and 240 feet (73 m) in diameter, the Grave Creek Mound is the largest conical type burial mound in the United States of America. It is located in Moundsville, West Virginia. In 1838, much of the archaeological evidence in this mound was destroyed when several non-archaeologists tunneled into the mound. To gain entrance to the mound, two shafts, one vertical and one horizontal were created. This led to the most significant discovery of two burial vaults. This mound along with many others, e.g. the Criel Mound, was the product of the Adena culture.
Grave Creek Mound is the largest conical type of any of the mound builder structures. Construction of the mound took place in successive stages from about 250-150 B.C., as indicated by the multiple burials at different levels within the structures. In 1838, road engineers measured its height at 69 feet (21 m) and its at the base as 295 feet (90 m). Originally a moat of about 40 feet (12 m) in width and five feet in depth with one causeway encircled it.
The Grave Creek Mound was believed probably first "discovered" by Joseph Tomlinson between 1770, when he and his brother built a log cabin at Grave Creek Flats, and 1772 when he built a cabin 300 feet (91 m) from the mound for his family[3] This was a full 33 years before Lewis & Clark wrote about the mound in their journals during their expedition after the Louisiana Purchase.[4][5]
It was saved from demolition in 1908 by the Wheeling Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution who were able to raise enough funds to acquire an option on the property, and in 1909 the state of West Virginia purchased the site.[6] It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.[2][7],[8]
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[edit] Delf Norona Museum
The Delf Norona Museum displays many artifacts found at the site, and is operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Opened in 1978, the museum's exhibits focus on the culture of the Adena people and theories about the mound's construction. The museum is open year round and admission is free. There is also a gift shop inside the Museum containing trinkets and other souvenirs.
[edit] See also
- Criel Mound
- Grave Creek Stone
- List of National Historic Landmarks
- List of Registered Historic Places in West Virginia
- List of burial mounds in the United States
[edit] References
- ^ a b "National Register of Historical Places - West Virginia (WV), Marshall County". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-02-08. http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/WV/Marshall/state.html.
- ^ a b "Grave Creek Mound". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=561&ResourceType=Structure. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
- ^ "Observations respecting the Grave Creek Mound" by Henry R Schoolcraft, Transactions of the American Ethnological Society Vol. 1, 1843 p.278
- ^ The Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition By Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Thomas W. Dunlay, Gary E. Moulton p.77
- ^ Lewis, Meriwether (September 10, 1803). "The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition". http://libxml1a.unl.edu/lewisandclark/read/?_xmlsrc=1803-09-10&_xslsrc=LCstyles.xsl. Retrieved 2009-05-06. "This remarkable mound of earth stands on the east bank of the Ohio 12 miles below Wheeling and about 700 paces from the river, as the land is not cleard the mound is not visible from the river—this mound gives name to two small creeks called little and big grave creek"
- ^ Schramm, Robert W, Moundsville Arcadia Publishing, Moundsville (W. Va.) 2004
- ^ Denise L. Grantz (October 15, 1985), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Grave Creek Mound, National Park Service, http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000751.pdf and Accompanying 1 photo, aerial view, from 1967.PDF (780 KB)
- ^ Denise L. Grantz (October 15, 1985), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Grave Creek Mound (Accessed via West Virginia Department of Culture and History, National Park Service, http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/marshall/66000751.pdf
[edit] External links
- Grave Creek Mound Archaeology Complex
- "In search of the Mound-Builders" by Terry A. Barnhart, Ohio History, the Scholarly Journal of the Ohio Historical Society, Vol 107
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