Adams County Ohio has 16 places on the National Register of Historic Places including 1 place of National significance and 6 places of Statewide significance. Significant places include Serpent Mound, Cockerill House, Harshaville Covered Bridge, Kirker Covered Bridge and Kirker, Gov. Thomas, Homestead.
Prehistoric cultural affiliation(s) include Paleo-Indian, Adena, Fort Ancient and Effigy Mound dating back to 8999 BC.
Many famous people are associated with these Adams County historic places including Thomas Metcalf, Gov. Thomas Kirker, Joseph R. Cockerill, Andrew Jackson, John T. Wilson and Dr. Abel C. Lewis.
Some of the country's most noteable architects helped create the Adams County places including John Treber, Joseph R. Cockerill, Thomas Metcalf and Peter Wickerham. Prominent architectural styles found in Adams Country are Federal, Greek Revival and Late Victorian.
Historic Significance:
Information Potential
Area of Significance:
Prehistoric
Cultural Affiliation:
Effigy Mound, Adena
Period of Significance:
500-999 BC, 499-0 BC, 499-0 AD
Historic Function:
Funerary
Historic Sub-function:
Graves/Burials
Current Function:
Landscape
Current Sub-function:
Park
The Great Serpent Mound, located on a dramatic plateau overlooking the Ohio Brush Creek valley in Adams County, is globally renowned as the largest and most famous prehistoric effigy mound in the world. Stretching nearly 1,348 feet in length and varying from one to three feet in height, this monumental earthwork depicts a winding serpent with an open mouth apparently holding an oval shape, which has been variously interpreted as an egg, the sun, or a representation of a comet. While its precise origin remains a subject of ongoing archaeological debate-traditionally associated with the Adena culture (circa 800 BCE to 100 CE) and later attributed by some radiocarbon dating to the Fort Ancient culture (circa 1000 to 1650 CE)-the site is universally recognized for its sophisticated design and astronomical alignments. The coils of the serpent and the orientation of its head align precisely with solar events, including the summer solstice sunset and the equinoxes, suggesting it served as a monumental sacred site and an astronomical calendar for its Indigenous creators.
Beyond its ancient indigenous origins, Serpent Mound holds a monumental place in the history of American archaeology and the historic preservation movement. First documented in 1848 by pioneering archaeologists Ephraim Squier and Edwin Davis in their seminal work Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, the mound was later saved from agricultural destruction in the late 1880s through the efforts of Harvard University's Frederic Ward Putnam. Supported by a group of Boston women who raised funds to purchase the land, Putnam established the site as one of the first public archaeological parks in the United States, cementing its role as a catalyst for modern American cultural resource management. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, the Serpent Mound remains an internationally significant cultural landscape and a profound testament to the complex spiritual and scientific traditions of North America's ancient mound-building cultures.
