Fort Hill State Memorial

Fort Hill State Park
Entrance sign on SR41
Fort Hill State Memorial is located in Ohio
Fort Hill State Memorial
Nearest citySinking Spring, Ohio
Coordinates39°06′47″N 83°24′23″W / 39.1131°N 83.4063°W / 39.1131; -83.4063
Area400 acres (160 ha)
NRHP reference No.70000500[1]
Added to NRHPNovember 10, 1970

Fort Hill State Memorial is a Native American earthwork located in Highland County, Ohio, United States. Built by the Hopewell culture, it is maintained by the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System and the Ohio History Connection.[2]

The earthwork, built about 2,000 years ago, is a walled enclosure made of soil on top of a flat summit. It is 500 feet (150 m) higher than nearby portions of Ohio Brush Creek and 800 feet (240 m) higher than the Ohio River.[3] It was made by the Hopewell people. It is over 11⁄2 miles in circumference, enclosing 35.3 acres (14.3 ha). Thirty-nine "man-made openings" occur throughout the enclosure: thirty-six that are verified as being made by Indians and three others still unknown as to how they were made. The wall is 6 to 15 feet (1.8 to 4.6 m) high and its total length is 8,619 feet (2,627 m). It is 30 feet (9.1 m) wide at its base in most areas. Archaeologists believe it was not used as a fort, but instead as a religious site.[2]

In 1846, it was excavated by Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis. It was featured in their book Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, which was published in 1848.[3]

Fort Hill State Memorial contains excellent outcrops of Silurian, Devonian, and Mississippian sedimentary bedrock and a natural bridge. The site is also an example of glacial stream reversal. It was named a National Natural Landmark in 1974.[4]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System – (#70000500)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Fort Hill Earthwork - Highland County". Places to Visit. Ohio State University. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Ephraim George Squier; Edwin Hamilton Davis (1848). Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley. Smithsonian Institution. pp. 71–75.
  4. ^ National Registry of Natural Landmarks (June 2009, p. 74. Archived 2011-05-16 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 25 November 2014.