The Hunt for the Great Mound

The Hunt for the Great Mound. . Believe it or not, the discovery of the Great Mound was like finding a needle in a haystack. Although archaeologists began searching for the mound as early as the 1930s, and some even found the site, it was not officially recorded until 1975., The architecture of this site was significant not only to the people who built the mounds, but also to all of us who appreciate art, architecture and history. Please help us preserve this site for others by not walking on the mounds., ”To build may have to be the slow laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.” , , Winston Churchill, , . 1932 Geologist Herman Gunter and archaeologist J. Clarence Simpson visited the mound in 1932, fifteen years before the state began a system to record archaeological locations., . 1939 Historian Mark Boyd referred to the site as the "Miccosukee Mound" in his 1939 article, Spanish Mission Sites in Florida., . 1972 In 1972, archaeologist Jim Miller discovered the Sun Ray Road mound, a smaller American Indian site likely associated with the Letchworth-Love Mounds Complex., . 1975 Archaeologist Jeanne Fryman finally located and recorded the mounds in 1975 on property owned by the Letchworth family., . 1992 In 1992, the State of Florida acquired eighty acres of land that is now this State Park., (photo caption) , This 1932 photograph shows W.F. Yarborough standing atop the mound with archaeologist J. Clarence Simpson at the base.