User:West Virginian/Romney Indian Mound
| Romney Indian Mound | |
|---|---|
 Romney Indian Mound, as photographed in 2005 | |
  Location within Romney, West Virginia | |
| General information | |
| Location | Indian Mound Cemetery |
| Town or city | Romney, West Virginia |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 39°20′33″N 78°45′57″W / 39.342446°N 78.765853°W |
Romney Indian Mound
Geography and setting[edit]
The Romney Indian Mound is located within Indian Mound Cemetery in Romney, West Virginia.[1] It is about 245 feet (75 m) west-southwest from the cemetery's entrance gate, with a gravel access road located immediately to its north.[2] Together, the eponymous mound and cemetery are located about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) west of downtown Romney, atop the 150-foot (46 m)-tall Yellow Banks promontory overlooking Sulphur Spring Run below and the South Branch Potomac River valley to the west.[1][2][3] The Yellow Banks are covered in forests, which ring the cemetery's perimeter to the west and south.[2][3] Mount Pisgah Benevolence Cemetery lies downhill and southwest of the mound.[2][3] A West Virginia highway marker is located approximately 262 feet (80 m) east of the mound along the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50/West Virginia Route 28) and features a brief description and history of the mound.[2][4] The Northwestern Turnpike traverses Town Hill to the mound's south.[2][3]
The Romney Indian Mound is situated approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Mill Creek Mountain, a narrow anticlinal mountain ridge that rises westward from the South Branch Potomac River.[3] The western foothills of South Branch Mountain rise to the east of Romney.[3][5][6] Both mountains are covered with Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests of hardwoods and pine.[7] Valley View Island, an island in the South Branch Potomac River just north of the mouth of Sulphur Spring Run, is approximately 1,750 feet (530 m) north of the mound.[2][3]
Structure description[edit]
The Romney Indian Mound measures 7 feet (2.1 m) in height,[1] and 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter.[8]
History[edit]
Hopewell culture[edit]
The Smithsonian Institution estimates the mound's origin to date from the Late Woodland period, which spanned from 500 to 1000 CE.[1]
The Boston Globe referenced the eponymous mound and cemetery in a 2013 article on George Preston Marshall, the former owner of the Washington Redskins professional American football team.[9] The article detailed Marshall's naming of the Redskins team and upon noting his burial in Indian Mound Cemetery, the article stated, "Something about Indians will be with him forever."[9]
The mound has never been excavated.[1]
See also[edit]
- Confederate Memorial (Romney, West Virginia)
- Indian Mound Cemetery
- List of burial mounds in the United States
- List of historic sites in Hampshire County, West Virginia
- List of Hopewell sites
- Mount Pisgah Benevolence Cemetery
Explanatory notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e McDonald & Woodward 1987, p. 71.
- ^ a b c d e f g Map centered on the Romney Indian Mound (Map). Google Maps. 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g Romney Quadrangle, West Virginia (Map). 1 : 24,000. 7.5 Minute Series (Topographic). United States Geological Survey. 1973. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
{{cite map}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 18 October 2018 suggested (help) - ^ "West Virginia Highway Markers Database: Indian Mound". West Virginia Memory Project website. West Virginia Division of Culture and History. 2018. Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
- ^ "Geographic Names Information System: Feature Detail Report for Mill Creek Mountain (Feature ID: 1543330)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ "Geographic Names Information System: Feature Detail Report for South Branch Mountain (Feature ID: 1552967)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ "District 2 Wildlife Management Areas". West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Section. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 9 July 2016 suggested (help) - ^ Chambers 2004, p. 510.
- ^ a b "Redskins' name can be traced to Boston". The Boston Globe. Boston. 29 December 2013. p. C11. Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
{{cite news}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 19 October 2018 suggested (help)
Bibliography[edit]
- Chambers, S. Allen (2004). Buildings of West Virginia. Oxford, New York City: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-516548-7. OCLC 53315276.
- McDonald, Jerry N.; Woodward, Susan L. (1987). Indian Mounds of the Atlantic Coast: A Guide to Sites from Maine to Florida. Newark, Ohio: The McDonald and Woodward Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-939923-03-8. OCLC 246722814 – via Internet Archive.
External links[edit]
Media related to Indian Mound (Romney, West Virginia) at Wikimedia Commons
Category:Archaeological sites in West Virginia Category:Hopewellian peoples Category:Indian Mound Cemetery Category:Mounds in West Virginia Category:Native American history of West Virginia Category:Northwestern Turnpike Category:Romney, West Virginia