{"nrhp_refnum":"02000848","name":"Giant City Stone Fort Site","other_names":["11j35"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Stone Fort Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Makanda","county":"Jackson County","state":"IL","lat":37.623477233000074,"lon":-89.19708315499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-08-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Prehistoric"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Archaeological site on a bluff ridge spur in Giant City State Park near Makanda, Jackson County, Illinois, marked by a sandstone slab wall across the spur's neck. It is a Late Woodland Raymond phase \"stone fort\" (A.D. 600-900).","why_significant":"The site is one of about ten known Late Woodland stone fort sites in southern Illinois and the smallest of them. Excavations in 2000-2001 found dense artifacts, storage pits, hearths and earth ovens in an excellent state of preservation. The nomination argues it can yield information about the role of stone enclosures in the Late Woodland settlement system that few other sources can provide.","narrative":"Giant City Stone Fort Site sits on a steep-sided bluff spur within Giant City State Park, south of Carbondale in southern Illinois. Its main feature is a simple stacked sandstone wall about 75 meters long across the narrow neck of the ridge, enclosing roughly an acre. The site dates to the Late Woodland Raymond phase, A.D. 600-900. The wall seen today is a 1934-1935 Civilian Conservation Corps reconstruction of an original that local settlers had taken apart for building stone. Archaeological work by Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2000-2001 found that the ridge had never been plowed and was well preserved. Crews recovered hundreds of Late Woodland potsherds and uncovered pits, hearths, basins and a postmold. It is one of about ten known stone fort sites in the region and the smallest of them. Its listing rests on its potential to explain how such enclosures fit into Late Woodland settlement. Two early twentieth-century features north of the wall are not counted as significant.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Other - Late Woodland Period Stone Wall","criteria":[],"status_note":"Located within Giant City State Park (current use: landscape/park). The present wall is a 1934-1935 Civilian Conservation Corps reconstruction of the original, which settlers had dismantled for building stone.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.78157-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/8/8930/28893008/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/02000848.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000848/1f4c0a804d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000848/1f4c0a804d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Dazspell","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stone_Fort_Wall.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Dazspell</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stone_Fort_Wall.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893008","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_City_Stone_Fort_Site","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16891638"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/jackson-county/giant-city-stone-fort-site-02000848/"}