Earthworks

After years of legal battles, the day is nearly here when the Octagon Earthworks in Newark will be fully opened to the public. The mounds are part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023.

Ohio History Connection will pay Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark to buy out its lease and end the long-running legal dispute over the Octagon Earthworks, although the sum is confidential under a settlement agreement.

Ohio History Connection says it has reached a deal with Moundbuilders Country Club on a sale price for land that includes the Octagon Earthworks, an ancient Native American earthwork.

The rest stop is decorated with the colors and themes of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which became Ohio's first World Heritage Site in September.

In another set-back for the owners of a Licking County golf course, the Ohio Supreme Court has decided not to take up a case involving Ohio History Connection and the Moundbuilders Country Club.

Research suggests the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks' World Heritage status is worth about $12.5 million for three Ohio counties, but the designation may be worth more.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled last year in favor of the Ohio History Connection's bid to reclaim land it leases to a golf course. Now, a jury is slated to determine how much the historical society must pay to Moundbuilders Country Club.

Ohio's Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are the 25th site in the United States — and the first in Ohio — added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The USA's bid to have Ohio's Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage sites is progressing. The bid is in the formal review process. Earlier this month, a reviewer from the International Council on Monuments and Sites visited Ohio for a tour.

A team of reviewers is expected in Ohio this month to review the United States' proposal to bestow World Heritage status to Ohio's Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks. The bid is moving forward despite disruptions to the process that led to no sites being added to the World Heritage List this summer.