{"nrhp_refnum":"73001529","name":"Story Mound State Memorial","other_names":["Chillicothe Mound #5"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"East of junction of Cherokee and Delano Streets","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chillicothe","county":"Ross County","state":"OH","lat":39.34208414700004,"lon":-82.99946110099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-03-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Prehistoric"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large subconical prehistoric Adena burial mound, 19.5 feet high with a 95-foot base diameter, on a 0.802-acre lot in a northern residential area of Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio. It was built ca. 500 B.C.-400 A.D. and was donated to the State of Ohio in 1950.","why_significant":"The mound was excavated in 1897 by Clarence Loveberry using tunnels and yielded the first documented circular Adena timber building. This structure type later proved typical of Adena ceremonial and domestic architecture, so the mound is considered a type site for Adena architectural norms. It has also been restored and maintained for public benefit as a classic Adena mortuary complex.","narrative":"Story Mound State Memorial is a large earthen burial mound in a residential part of Chillicothe, Ohio, near three public secondary schools on former fairgrounds land. Built by the Adena people between about 500 B.C. and 400 A.D., it now stands 19.5 feet high with a base 95 feet across. It was reported as 25 feet tall before it was excavated in 1897. Clarence Loveberry tunneled into the mound that year and found the post pattern of a circular timber building, fifteen feet across, with a single burial of a young male inside. Grave goods included slate gorgets, bone beads and two caches of stemmed projectile points. This was the first documented circular Adena timber building, a form later understood as common in Adena architecture. Donated to the State of Ohio in 1950, the mound is kept open to visitors and is valued as a type site and as an urban interpretive landmark.","period_of_significance":"ca. 500 B.C.-400 A.D.","architect_builder":"Prehistoric Adena Indian group","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Excellent condition; maintained by the State of Ohio and the Ohio Historical Society and open to the public. Minor erosion on the summit and slight subsidence on the flanks from the 1897 tunnels.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.266469-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/73001529.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001529/7e093edee5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001529/7e093edee5-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Story_Mound_in_Chillicothe.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Story_Mound_in_Chillicothe.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991161","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_Mound_State_Memorial","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18617458"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/ross-county/story-mound-state-memorial-73001529/"}