Discover Middle Georgia: Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Located off Emery Highway in Macon, the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park is like something from another world. With almost two thousand acres of nature, it’s hard to believe something like it exists within sprawling Macon. Park Guide Andrea Martison explained just how old the land is.

“We’ve actually had over twelve thousand years of human habitation here in the central Macon area and so lots of parks tend to focus on that history or another but we get to talk about all of it and so we get to talk about the Paleo-Indians with the tail end of the last Ice Age. We talk about the Mississippians who built the mounds here a thousand years ago. We talk about the current tribes that are still associated with the park today.”

The park was also the site of the largest archeological dig in U.S. History. Starting in 1933 and lasting until just after World War II, more than 800 men would go on to restore some of the park’s historic sites as well as dig up 2.5 million artifacts.

Today, the park consists of the visitor’s center, which houses many of the artifacts that had been dug up, an eight-mile hiking trail, and the remains of multiple mounds created by the different tribes of the past.

“We’ve got seven mounds and then we also have the historic Earth Lodge which that’s definitely an important one to take a look at because that one you can actually go inside and see the original thousand-year-old clay floor that the Mississippians would have used a thousand years ago for their ceremonies and their councils,” said Martinson

Admission into the park is free, except during special events. The biggest event the park holds is the Ocmulgee Indigenous Celebration which happens every September. The celebration is in honor of southeastern Native American culture and heritage and typically features traditional crafts, dances, storytelling, and lots of educational opportunities.

“The fact that it’s still being preserved is very, very powerful for them and they are definitely very excited whenever they did get to come back, it’s kind of like a homecoming for them that they get to kind of have a family reunion of sorts.” Martinson exclaimed.

New this year for the park was the addition of land, doubling the size of the park. The expansion to 1,600 acres has helped the continued preservation of the land. The park has also been in talks of becoming a national park and preserve, though that process is still ongoing. Whatever the status of the park may be, it continues to serve an important role in Macon’s history.

“This is kind of the time capsule of this area where we get to have so many cultures over such a wide time period and just to see not only how they were back then but continuing those cultures event to this day with the Ocmulgee Indigenous Celebration and those thriving cultures that are still around even in the current world.” remarked Martinson.

If you’d like to learn more about the Ocmulgee Mounds you can go here.