Jump to content

User:West Virginian/Romney Indian Mound

Coordinates: 39°20′33″N 78°45′57″W / 39.342446°N 78.765853°W / 39.342446; -78.765853
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Romney Indian Mound
Romney Indian Mound,
as photographed in 2005
West Virginian/Romney Indian Mound is located in Romney, West Virginia
West Virginian/Romney Indian Mound
Location within Romney, West Virginia
General information
LocationIndian Mound Cemetery
Town or cityRomney, West Virginia
CountryUnited States
Coordinates39°20′33″N 78°45′57″W / 39.342446°N 78.765853°W / 39.342446; -78.765853

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]

Explanatory notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e McDonald & Woodward 1987, p. 71.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Map centered on the Romney Indian Mound (Map). Google Maps. 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  3. ^ 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)
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "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)
  8. ^ Chambers 2004, p. 510.
  9. ^ 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]
[edit]

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