The Ocmulgee National Monument just outside Macon may not be well known to many Atlantans, but its historical importance has not gone unnoticed by local lawmakers.
This month U.S. Reps. Sanford Bishop and Austin Scott, who represent parts of Central Georgia, introduced a bill to the U.S. Congress that would designate the mounds as a National Historic Park, vastly expanding its size and securing additional federal funding. U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson and David Perdue introduced sister legislation in the Senate alongside it, hoping to avoid the same pitfall that the bill met last year when it passed the House but died on the Senate floor.
The Earth Mound at Ocmulgee National Monument
The Ocmulgee National Monument contains thousands of years of historical artifacts from the Appalachian Mississippian culture, the Native Americans who lived in Georgia long before the arrival of Europeans and whose descendants include the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes, many of whom are still active in the area. Its most famous features are the earthworks which comprise the remnants of a massive temple, as well as ceremonial and burial mounds.
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