Veterans' Park Mound

A small mound stands in the northeast section of Veterans’ Park, near the corner of Sixth and Church Streets. The date and purpose of the mound are unknown, but its potential as a burial site may have inspired early settlers of Newark to utilize the surrounding plot of land as the place for their own communal burials. The settler cemetery was discontinued in 1850, yet many of those interred in the cemetery remain. One grave marker still stands on the slope of the prehistoric mound. Now a park, memorial, and cultural site for modern Newark, the Native American mound and early American cemetery add layers of history and memory to this location.

Image 1: Veterans' Park photo from around 1911 with the mound and standing monument in the background.

Image 2: Contemproary photogrpah of the mound and pioneer-era tombstone.