Mound and Stonework Near Moonville

#1 · March 14, 2026, 12:43 pm

Quote from Rush on March 14, 2026, 12:43 pm
An article that appeared in the Vinton Record on 24 Jul 1873:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038222/1873-07-24/ed-1/seq-2/

Which is it. A Freak or Nature, or the Work of Man?
Learning from report that a somewhat remarkable stone work had been discovered in Brown township, Vinton county, Ohio, we started, a few days since, in company with others from Moonville, west of the track of the M. & C. R.R., for the designated spot.

After admiring with the genuine zest of tourist, the wild and rugged scenery of the Raccoon [Creek], which winds its tortuous course from near Hope switch to Moonville in graceful curves, as if under the direction of a skilled landscape gardener, we came to the desired locality.

It is situated about a mile in a southeasterly direction from Hope switch. At the first view of the object of our search, the question that heads this article suggested itself to our mind, and we were slow in coming to a satisfactory solution of it. But upon a closer inspection all doubt vanished and we became satisfied that it was the work of man; but were unable to form a conjecture of any probable object the builders could have had in view.

The measurement here given is all guess work, intended to merely give a general idea of the object.
Conceive then of a cave 200 feet in length with a huge mound of small rubble stone built in it, and occupying some 40 feet of its center, the stones all laid in mortar, 25 feet wide at the bottom and 12 feet high, or as high as the mouth of the cave, and filling it with the exception of a narrow passage in
the back part, sufficiently wide to afford a good view of the face of the back wall, which is laid with coarse sand flagstones two inches thick in red clay mortar. This wall conforms to the inclination of the cave, which leads to the conjecture that it was at first built up to the rock of the cave, and
has since been gently moved forward.

We were told that the front, when first discovered, was faced by a similar wall, but it had been torn down by hands as wicked as our own. The inside was compactly filled with small stones laid in light colored fire clay, with the exception of two or three quite large rocks which were probably in position when the work was begun. There is a hole near the bottom and center, which has the appearance of having been excavated by wild animals.

In connection with the stone mound and extending from its eastern extremity, and at right angle with it, is an oblong earth mound, perhaps a hundred feet long and thirty wide at the base and forty or fifty feet high. This may have been, and probably was, the refuse earth form the quarrying of the stone.

No indications of this operation, however, remain. Untold ages must have elapsed since these stones were piled. At what period, by whom, and for what purpose defies conjecture. But were we inclined to venture a guess, it would be that these mounds of stone and earth were raised by men, who inhabited this continent, at a period anterior to that of the earth mound builders'.

I am a little familiar with the area, but it has been years since I have visited. Does anyone know of a earth mound that remains around the area of Racoon Creek and Brown Township?

An article that appeared in the Vinton Record on 24 Jul 1873:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038222/1873-07-24/ed-1/seq-2/

Which is it. A Freak or Nature, or the Work of Man?
Learning from report that a somewhat remarkable stone work had been discovered in Brown township, Vinton county, Ohio, we started, a few days since, in company with others from Moonville, west of the track of the M. & C. R.R., for the designated spot.

After admiring with the genuine zest of tourist, the wild and rugged scenery of the Raccoon [Creek], which winds its tortuous course from near Hope switch to Moonville in graceful curves, as if under the direction of a skilled landscape gardener, we came to the desired locality.

It is situated about a mile in a southeasterly direction from Hope switch. At the first view of the object of our search, the question that heads this article suggested itself to our mind, and we were slow in coming to a satisfactory solution of it. But upon a closer inspection all doubt vanished and we became satisfied that it was the work of man; but were unable to form a conjecture of any probable object the builders could have had in view.

The measurement here given is all guess work, intended to merely give a general idea of the object.
Conceive then of a cave 200 feet in length with a huge mound of small rubble stone built in it, and occupying some 40 feet of its center, the stones all laid in mortar, 25 feet wide at the bottom and 12 feet high, or as high as the mouth of the cave, and filling it with the exception of a narrow passage in
the back part, sufficiently wide to afford a good view of the face of the back wall, which is laid with coarse sand flagstones two inches thick in red clay mortar. This wall conforms to the inclination of the cave, which leads to the conjecture that it was at first built up to the rock of the cave, and
has since been gently moved forward.

We were told that the front, when first discovered, was faced by a similar wall, but it had been torn down by hands as wicked as our own. The inside was compactly filled with small stones laid in light colored fire clay, with the exception of two or three quite large rocks which were probably in position when the work was begun. There is a hole near the bottom and center, which has the appearance of having been excavated by wild animals.

In connection with the stone mound and extending from its eastern extremity, and at right angle with it, is an oblong earth mound, perhaps a hundred feet long and thirty wide at the base and forty or fifty feet high. This may have been, and probably was, the refuse earth form the quarrying of the stone.

No indications of this operation, however, remain. Untold ages must have elapsed since these stones were piled. At what period, by whom, and for what purpose defies conjecture. But were we inclined to venture a guess, it would be that these mounds of stone and earth were raised by men, who inhabited this continent, at a period anterior to that of the earth mound builders'.

I am a little familiar with the area, but it has been years since I have visited. Does anyone know of a earth mound that remains around the area of Racoon Creek and Brown Township?