Golf Course Atop Ancient Native American Earthworks to Be Removed

After more than a decade of at-times acrimonious back and forth, Ohio’s state historical society has reached a deal with a country club that operates a golf course on land it owns that contains ancient Native American earthworks that were built as sacred sites some 2,000 years ago.

Under the agreement, the society, known as the Ohio History Connection, will acquire the club’s long-term lease on the property and open the site for full public access, the society announced on Thursday.

The financial terms were not disclosed, but the settlement allows both parties — which were initially millions of dollars apart in their negotiations — to avoid a jury trial to determine the fair market value of the lease. The Ohio Supreme Court had ruled in 2022 that the historical society could use eminent domain to buy out the lease from the Moundbuilders Country Club, which has operated a private golf course atop the Octagon Earthworks since 1910.

The History Connection, which acquired the land containing the earthworks in 1933 and has since leased it to the club, will take over the lease on Jan. 1, according to the settlement.

“Our guiding principles throughout this process have been to enable full public access to the Octagon Earthworks while ensuring Moundbuilders Country Club receives just compensation for the value of its lease on the property,” Megan Wood, the executive director and the chief executive of the History Connection, said in a statement. “And now we have accomplished those things.”

The mounds in Newark, about 40 miles east of Columbus, are part of a network of eight archaeological sites in Ohio, known as the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, that were created one basketful of earth at a time, using pointed sticks and clamshell hoes.

An astronomical and geometric marvel, the mounds’ positions correspond to lunar movements, and the structures align with points at which the moon rises and sets over the course of the 18.6-year lunar cycle.

“The historical, archaeological and astronomical significance of the Octagon Earthworks is arguably equivalent to Stonehenge or Machu Picchu,” Justice Michael P. Donnelly wrote in the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in favor of the state historical society, upholding two rulings by lower courts.

But public access was limited to just a handful of days per month, and the country club had declined offers from the historical society to buy out its lease, which was set to run through 2078.

The History Connection sued Moundbuilders in 2018 in an attempt to acquire the lease, after federal officials told it that securing World Heritage recognition, which brings international acclaim and legal protection, would be impossible without full public access to the site.

The club had argued that ending the lease was not necessary to establish public use and that it had preserved and cared for the mounds.

After the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in the History Connection’s favor in 2022, the country club filed a motion for reconsideration that was quickly denied.

The club had said it was willing to move before the lease was up, but the parties were unable to agree on the financial terms. At one point the club had sought $12 million in their negotiations, millions above the historical society’s offer. But negotiations progressed in recent months as a jury trial to determine the value of the lease loomed.

David Kratoville, the president of the Moundbuilders Country Club’s board of trustees, said in an interview that the History Connection had upped its offer to the extent that club would “have enough money to survive as an entity.”

The club has reached a memorandum of understanding to buy another property in the area, the Trout Club, a resort about seven miles away that includes a golf course; dining and entertainment spaces; and an outdoor pool.

The resort is open to the public but the Moundbuilders would continue on as a private-membership entity, Kratoville said.

“We’re a private membership country club, and that’s our expectation going forward for any property we acquire,” he said.

Brent Dewey, the owner of the Trout Club, did not respond to a request for comment, but told The Newark Advocate, which first reported the deal last week: “We look at it as a win-win for all sides. They got shoved out of their land. Now they have a home secure.”

As for whether Moundbuilders would keep its name at a new location, Kratoville said it was too soon to say.

“I don’t know what we’ll land on with a name,” he said. “My priority is getting a deal done.”

The History Connection said it planned to open the Octagon Earthworks to the public in January, and that the landscaping for the golf course would be removed at a later date.

“We look forward to partnering with the community to bring vibrant and meaningful visitor experiences to this remarkable place, and we plan to provide more details after we officially take possession of the leasehold for the property,” Wood said.

Glenna Wallace, the chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, said full public access would help to broaden the public’s understanding of her Native American ancestors.

“I’m ecstatic,” she said in an interview. “I’m trying to imagine how my ancestors must feel after all these years. I congratulate the Ohio History Connection — it’s been a long, long journey.

“I look forward to being able to have people from all over the world come and enjoy that place,” she added. “I hope we are able to maintain the cultural significance of it, and that people are able to realize how magnificent and intelligent the ancestors who built these wonderful earthworks were.”