Huffman Mound or Tippett Mound

This prehistoric structure requires a bit of a hike to observe; Huffman Mound, also known as Tippet or Tippett Mound, is located within Taft Reserve, a 425-acre reserve that is part of the Licking Park District. Huffman Mound likely dates to the Adena Cultural period. This is known not only from its size and shape but also from evidence recovered at the site by an infamous amateur archaeologist in the middle of the nineteenth century. That man, David Wyrick, surveyed and sketched one of the earliest drawings of the layout of the Newark Earthworks, but he also perpetrated an archaeological hoax, creating and planting four carved stones inscribed with Hebrew markings at Native American sites in Licking County. Wyrick’s work at Huffman indicated that the site was used for burials. The excavations damaged the mound, reducing its height slightly. Today the mound is around 20 feet in height and 200 feet in diameter and, according to Susan Woodward and Jerry McDonald’s book, Indians Mounds of the Middle Ohio Valley, it should be visible from nearby hiking trails. Another mound, called Rutledge Mound, also stands within the Taft Reserve.

Image 1: A sketch of Huffman (Tippett) Mound as sketched by its excavator David Wyrick in 1860.

Image 2: Diagram of the excavation conducted into Huffman (Tippett) Mound around 1860 as it appeared in the 1866 Atlas of Licking County.

Image 3: Map of the surrounding area from 1875 showing Huffman (Tippett) Mound, nearby Rutledge Mound, and many other ancient structures now lost due to human activity.