- An Ohio historical society is close to gaining control of an ancient ceremonial and burial earthwork built by Native Americans and now maintained by a country club whose members play golf next to the mound.
- A court ruling will determine how much the historical society must pay for the land following a 2019 ruling that said the society could reclaim its lease through eminent domain.
- The site is one of eight ancient areas of the Hopewell Earthworks System designated a World Heritage Site last year.
An Ohio historical society is close to taking control of an ancient ritual and burial earthwork maintained by a country club whose members play golf next to the mound.
A trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday to determine how much the historical society should pay for the site, one of eight ancient sites in the Hopewell Earthworks System designated a World Heritage Site last year.
Built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago by members of the Hopewell culture, the earthworks served as ceremonial sites that brought together people from across the continent, based on archaeological finds of raw materials that came from as far west as the Rocky Mountains.
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The Ohio History Connection, which owns the 2,000-year-old Octagon Earthworks in Newark, central Ohio, won a state Supreme Court ruling a year and a half ago to regain the lease held by Mound Builders Country Club and allow the site to become a public park.
Native Americans constructed an earthwork that corresponds to the movement of the moon, with eight long earthen walls aligned with the rising and setting points of the moon during its 18.6-year lunar cycle.
The 155-foot diameter circular enclosure surrounding the third hole at Mound Builders Country Club at Octagon Earthworks in Newark, Ohio, was photographed on July 30, 2019. (Doral Chenoweth III/Columbus Dispatch via The Associated Press, File)
The Ohio Historical Society calls it “part cathedral, part cemetery, part observatory.”
Many tribes, including those with historical ties to Ohio, want the earthworks preserved as examples of Native American achievement.
Voters in surrounding Licking County enacted a tax increase to preserve the remains of the earthworks in 1892. The area was developed as a golf course in 1911, and the state first leased 134 acres to the Moundbuilders Country Club in the 1930s.
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In 2019, a county court ruled that the historical society could reclaim its lease through eminent domain.
The club has challenged the Ohio History Connection’s attempt to acquire the land, arguing that the company did not make a good faith offer to purchase the land as required by state law. The country club claims that it has properly maintained the mounds and allowed public access over the years.
The club received a further legal blow when the court rejected evidence it sought to present regarding the value of the land. The club appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court, which denied jurisdiction.
