Lewiston-Hopewell Burial Mound

Address: 43° 9.991′ N, 79° 2.67′ W. Marker is in Lewiston, New York, in Niagara County. Marker can be reached from South 4th Street south of Tuscarora Street.

Hopewell sight

The Hopewell site is located on the grounds of the Earl W. Brydges Artpark. The Hopwell site dates back to the year 200 AD. The Marker can be reached from South 4th Street south of Tuscarora Street. On the grounds of Artpark, the Hopewell sight is found in a wooded section of the land, in between two parking lots. The inscription on the mound of the Hopewell site says that there are “Thousands of similar mounds are located in the Ohio River Valley where the Hopewell lived in small scattered settlements from about 200 B.C. to A.D. 500.” The inscription also describes that the Hopewell mound creators were associated with and influenced people far from their Ohio homeland. The Hopewell mound builders were also traders and very artistic people. There is no known reason why people were specifically buried here and there are no identities revealed of the people buried here. Lastly the inscription asks for the respect for the sacred burial ground. "In our community, Indian Mounds Park is a cemetery and should be treated as one," said a police officer in James Walsh’s newspaper article. The police officer in James Walsh’s newspaper article refers to people drinking and doing drugs in a park hidden by the trails that go through an Indian burial ground. In an effort to reroute trails in St. Paul park, a $2.5 million trail reconstruction project, is the subject of a public meeting. While there are people that take this as far too extreme it is essential to try to conserve and respect these burial grounds as it's important for the history of our country. Established in 1893, Indian Mounds Regional Park is home to six Indian burial mounds high atop 450 million-year-old limestone and sandstone bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River and downtown St. Paul (Walsh). The burial site spans at least two American Indian cultures. One of which is the Dakota group. And in addition the ancient people known as the Hopewell that house the site you see here in Lewiston NY, at Artpark.

Works Cited:

Walsh, James. Ancient Mounds in an Urban Conflict: A Plan to Reroute Trails at St. Paul Park Draws Praise from American Indian Groups, Pushback from Neighbors., 18 July 2019.

Written by: Alec Petocchi

The Historical Marker Database