Welcome to Great Council State Park

Welcome to Great Council State Park. . , The interpretive center that stands in front of you is a contemporary version of the historic "longhouse" or council house familiar to the Shawnee in the 1700s. A council house was a place used by the tribe for meetings and ceremonies. The design features a long, rectangular shape and a single room.

Central Skylight
In many traditional council houses, a central fire represented the heart of the community. Offerings, speeches, and other important events revolved around this feature, which had an opening directly above it, allowing the smoke to carry words and offerings directly to the Creator. The large skylights are intended to be reminiscent of the fireplace opening.

Wood and Natural Materials
The old council houses featured wood and bark as building materials. Here, metal siding is intended to replicate that wood look, while steel beams depict the necessary large wooden supports.

Joseph Jackson, a Shawnee captive in Old Chillicothe, described the Council House that once stood here saying.

"Northeast of the center of the town stood the council house - a large building, said to have been sixty feet square, built of round hickory logs, one story high, with gable ends open and upright posts supporting the roof. Black Fish's cabin was some thirty yards to the west of this structure."

Monuments
The early 1930s saw a flourish of new markers commemorating Native American activity in this area. While some of these tributes depict verifed facts, others share information that has not been confrmed with historical documentation. The gardens of Great Council State Park provide a fitting home for the collection of these important pieces of local history.