Wetumpka in Elmore County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
The Mound at Fort Toulouse-Fort Jackson Park
Alabama Indigenous Mound Trail
Photographed By Mark Hilton, February 2, 2020
1. The Mound at Fort Toulouse-Fort Jackson Park Marker
Inscription.
The Mound at Fort Toulouse-Fort Jackson Park. Alabama Indigenous Mound Trail. This earthen mound and an adjacent village were built by people of the Mississippian culture who likely had some relationship to the major mound center at Moundville near present-day Tuscaloosa. The Mississippian culture is believed to have originated in the Mississippi River Valley near the end of the first millennium AD (circa 1050) and continued as the dominant culture of the Southeast until the time of European exploration and settlement (1511-1700).
This site sits at a strategic location near where the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers join to form the Alabama River. The inhabitants of the village could control all movement of people and goods up and down the rivers, thereby enabling economic and political control as well as cultural influence over a massive area.
Situated on sandy well-drained soil forty feet above the river, this site seldom floods. Consequently, it was one of the most intensively occupied indigenous sites in Alabama and it remained a center of significant American Indian occupation until the removal of the Creek Indians in the 1830s. The Historic period Alabama and Muscogee Creek villages, named Pakana and Taskigi, respectively, were also located here.
This site is very important to numerous Southeastern indigenous tribes who assert an ancestral connection with those who built and occupied Alabama's ancient mounds. The earthwork landscapes and the objects and information recovered from them reveal a rich cultural tradition that still thrives today among these tribes. Our indigenous mound sites represent a heritage for all Alabamians to cherish, and it is important that we protect and preserve them for future generations.
Artist's rendering of how this site likely appeared circa 1400-1500 looking from the east, with the Coosa River to the right and the Tallapoosa River to the left. The site featured the platform mound with a summit structure, a large central plaza surrounded by houses and other buildings, a defensive timber palisade, and a borrow pit. Nearby cultivated fields of corn, beans, squash, sunflower, amaranth, and other food crops are in the view as well. Artist: Herb Roe.
This earthen mound and an adjacent
village were built by people of the
Mississippian culture who likely had
some relationship to the major mound
center at Moundville near present-day
Tuscaloosa. The Mississippian culture is
believed to have originated in the
Mississippi River Valley near the end of
the first millennium AD (circa 1050) and
continued as the dominant culture of
the Southeast until the time of
European exploration and settlement
(1511-1700).
This site sits at a strategic location near
where the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers
join to form the Alabama River. The
inhabitants of the village could control
all movement of people and goods up
and down the rivers, thereby enabling
economic and political control as well as
cultural influence over a massive area.
Situated on sandy well-drained soil forty
feet above the river, this site seldom
floods. Consequently, it was one of the
most intensively occupied indigenous
sites in Alabama and it remained a
center of significant American Indian
occupation until the removal of the
Creek Indians in the 1830s. The
Historic period Alabama and Muscogee
Creek villages, named Pakana and
Taskigi, respectively, were also located
here.
This site is very important to numerous
Southeastern indigenous tribes who
assert an ancestral connection with
those
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who built and occupied
Alabama's ancient mounds. The
earthwork landscapes and the objects
and information recovered from them
reveal a rich cultural tradition that still
thrives today among these tribes. Our
indigenous mound sites represent a
heritage for all Alabamians to cherish,
and it is important that we protect and
preserve them for future generations.
Artist's rendering of how this site likely appeared circa 1400-1500 looking from the east, with the Coosa River to the right and the Tallapoosa River to the left. The site featured the platform mound with a summit structure, a large central plaza surrounded by houses and other buildings, a defensive timber palisade, and a borrow pit. Nearby cultivated fields of corn, beans, squash, sunflower, amaranth, and other food crops are in the view as well. Artist: Herb Roe.
Erected 2020 by Alabama Historical Commission (Ft. Toulouse/Ft. Jackson), the University of Alabama Center for Economic Development, the University of Alabama Museums.
2. The Mound at Fort Toulouse-Fort Jackson Park Marker on far left.
The mound can be seen in center of photo.
30.242′ N, 86° 15.513′ W. Marker is in Wetumpka, Alabama, in Elmore County. Marker can be reached from West Fort Toulouse Road, 0.6 miles west of Jackson Park Road. Marker is located within the Fort Toulouse-Fort Jackson National Historical Park, beyond the end of West Fort Toulouse Road. Entrance fee is charged. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2521 West Fort Toulouse Road, Wetumpka AL 36093, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2020. It was originally submitted on February 2, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 472 times since then and 37 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on February 2, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
