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.
Georgia’s legislators seemed thrilled to be re-introducing the bill(s) and were hopeful that it would pass, giving the state its first national historical park. Said Perdue, “I’m happy to join Senator Isakson and my colleagues in the House in working to expand the Ocmulgee National Monument’s boundary and designate it as a national historical park. The site is truly one of our state’s historical treasures and this designation will help protect a piece of Georgia’s rich history.”
Bishop echoed his sentiments, saying, “The Ocmulgee Mounds are a true cultural and archaeological treasure to the state of Georgia, and the creation of Georgia’s first national historical park will preserve the important legacy of the site’s past inhabitants for current and future generations. I am pleased to reintroduce this legislation with my Georgia colleagues in the House and Senate. The bill has received strong, bipartisan support in the past, and I am eager to see it enacted into law as expeditiously as possible.”
