Where is etowah georgia

The people are gone. Their homes and temples and roads are gone. The ceremonial plaza — or town square — around which the great mounds are clustered, is clear and flat, as it was years ago.

The ditch formed a semicircle around the acre city connecting with the Etowah River on the western side. Look to your right and imagine an earthen footpath that the Etowah townspeople used to cross almost one thousand years ago. For hundreds of years, the townspeople carried baskets of soil from this pit to build their ceremonial mounds or add another layer to an existing one.

But they also left town to farm, hunt and visit outlying villages. When people went back into Etowah over that earthen footpath, they would have walked through an opening in a high wooden fence that protected the city.

This palisade disintegrated long ago, but it stood at least feet high and was dotted with towers jutting over the defensive ditch. When the city was threatened, warriors could climb inside the towers and hurl weapons at attackers from a safe vantage.

If you had crossed that earthen footpath past the palisade, first you would have encountered a cluster of homes, just as subdivisions grow along the outskirts of cities today. They were permanent, single family dwellings. Here you would have seen men and women going about their daily routine and heard children playing and smelled dinner cooking — corn, squash, beans, and roasting meats or fresh fish or mussels from the Etowah River. As you walked through the outskirts toward the town center, you would have noticed the homes becoming more prestigious near the plaza and the foot temple mound known as Mound A.

You can see how this worked in the drawing below of what the settlement looked like. The museum houses a number of the artefacts recovered from the 20th century excavations at Etowah. After completing my tour of the mounds and the riverside I made my way back to the museum. I was pleasantly surprised by a large assemblage of artefacts from the site, including two magnificent marble effigies of a couple, which were excavated from Mound C.

There is also a theatre where an informative film of high production quality is shown. If you happen to find yourself in the Atlanta area I would say the Etowah Indian Mounds are well worth a visit.

A number of online reviews comment on what a great find this site is, and what a pleasant day was had by all. Official Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter. Besides the 6 Earthen Mounds, there are reconstructions of houses to see, a nature trail through the park and a film about the Etowah Indians in the Visitor Centre. And in the summer be sure to have water and a hat — it can get quite hot. Avid the midday heat by going early in the day or just before closing.

I am a certified archaeologist working in the Netherlands with a focus on fieldwork in prehistory. After earning my degree in archaeology from Leiden University I expanded my interest to encompass a variety of topics including visual anthropology, human evolution and ritual and meaning.

I feel it is important to cultivate interest among the public so, along with my work, I am passionate about developing strategies to actively engage and share archaeology with the community.

Your email address will not be published. The now reconstructed mound C — excavated in stages by archaeologists from to A short walk further and you are at the mounds. The Mounds. Onsite Museum. A model of the Etowah settlement as it might have been. Tips for Visiting the Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site Besides the 6 Earthen Mounds, there are reconstructions of houses to see, a nature trail through the park and a film about the Etowah Indians in the Visitor Centre The average time to tour the site and the museum is about an hour and a half.

Make sure you are wearing comfortable walking shoes. About The Author. The city of Etowah was growing into an industrial center for Cass County. From Negatives taken in the field, by Geo. Barnard, Official Photographer of the Military Div. Etowah grew to a population of around 2, and among this population included slaves. Cooper personally owned 22 slaves and the Etowah Manufacturing and Mining Company owned 11 bondsmen. Cooper sought to hire even more help and he sought to hire more black labor for the the company.

Among those listed was Davy Cobb ,who was employed as a puddler,which involved the stirring of molten pig iron. One of the managers of the Iron Works was William Austin Leyden, who among other things created a postal lock for Yale, brought the first sewing machine to Atlanta of his own design and became major for the 9th Georgia Battalion Artillery. Among the stories about Etowah , were not all success.

It was in that a small pox out break occurred. All the cases heretofore reported are now recovered or convalescent, except the 15 now reported sick.

Every piece of timber in this unique and tasteful building was native growth of Cass County, so we hear. A large ladle with Lbs of melted iron, suspended by a Crane, was passing by the bands round to the mould. Before pouring it became top heavy, turned, and was emptied into a puddle of water. This produced an explosion which threw the metal through the roof of the shed, and in every direction, burning five or six, more or less.

Only three were seriously burned, to wit: Costner, a white man, Bill, a negro, the founder, and John, a moulder, a negro These are doing well and are not dangerous. In , a new building was mentioned in Etowah was a chapel, with a school room below and divine room above. This was located near the residence of Mr. Cooper and Mr. It was commented that the town was not only using the products of nature but improving intellectual and moral attributes.

The homes in the area were neat in appearance along the steep hillsides. It is mentioned in , that the number living here was around one thousand souls.

Currently there are about three hundred employed at the iron Works. The Blast Furnace is run day and night not to mention the Rolling Mill and Merchant mills runs six days a week day and night. This facility started with 1, acres growing to 12, acres with an annual product of twelve to fifteen tons of iron per day. The cost of this immense operation began to become difficult for Cooper who sought a loan from the State of Georgia for a fourth a million dollars.

When the State denied his request possibly due to being misrepresented by the Know Nothing Party, Cooper proposed to sell the property in The iron works had already manufactured a cannon fired at the opening of Tunnel Hill and other commemorative events including the opening of the railroad to the town of Etowah.

It was also noted that Cooper flew the first disunion flag which was hoisted atop what he called Mount Anthony Pine Mountain which could be seen from the bridge and many directions. As we can see from the map and the bridge view above from Barnard, there was a ford designed to protect the Etowah Bridge and the Iron Works. Some of Hoods corps was stationed on the South Side of the river.

Most of the valuable machinery had been removed to a place of safety. Where the equipment was moved is not known. It is an old muzzle loading rifle which was fished from the bottom of the Etowah River just below the covered bridge one mile south of Cartersville on Dixie Highway.

The find was made by Mr. Duncan who had a fish basket in the river at this place. The rifle is in a fair state of preservation considering the fact that it has been underwater something like fifty-five to sixty years. The stock is made of Walnut. The wood has hardened until it is almost petrified.

The trigger, trigger guard, hammer and other irons are still on the rifle, which of course considerably rusted.

The hammer can still be worked. The holders for the ramrod are still plainly visible but the ramrod itself is gone. There is no doubt the rifle is a relic of Civil War days. This bridge was guarded for a considerable length of time by both Federals and Confederates toward the closing of the Civil War.