Shrum Mound in Columbus, Ohio

Named for the Shrum family who owned the farmland that has now been mostly developed, the 2,000 year old mound is one of the few in the area to have been preserved.

The Adena people were actually a number of related Native American societies spread across what is now Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

While the Adena are known for their pottery and other artistic works as well, their large earthen mounds are often a greater source of curiosity. The mounds were constructed as a part of the Adena burial ritual, in which a mortuary building was burned, then covered with carefully graded earth. This ritual was often repeated multiple times, creating a large mound.

While the mounds originally numbered in the hundreds, a small percentage now remain. So much of our early understanding of the Adena came from the mounds that “the Adena culture was named for the large mound on Thomas Worthington’s early 19th-century estate called “Adena”, in Chillicothe, Ohio.”

Ohio History Connection (the “hip” new name for the Ohio Historical Society) holds ownership of the mound site.

The mound has never been excavated, so what lies inside is still a mystery, but the treasures are likely interspersed with decades of tree roots. Over the years, many mature trees had grown on and around the mound, and in 2015 Ohio History Connection had the trees removed in the name of preservation.

Shrum Mound is located at 3141 McKinley Ave, Columbus, OH 43204, and is easy to find via Google navigation by searching just the name. It’s open during daylight hours, and free to visit. There’s a small amount of off-street parking in front of the park, but be careful not to block the nearby bus stop.