About this property
Dickson Mounds is a Native American settlement site and burial mound complex near Lewistown, Illinois. It is located in Fulton County on a low bluff overlooking the Illinois River. It is a large burial complex containing at least two cemeteries, ten superimposed burial mounds, and a platform mound. The Dickson Mounds site was founded by 800 CE and was in use until after 1250 CE. The site is named in honor of chiropractor Don Dickson, who began excavating it in 1927 and opened a private museum that formerly operated on the site. Its exhibition of the 237 uncovered skeletons displayed by Dickson was closed in 1992 by then-Gov. Jim Edgar. Don Dickson was a chiropractor and discovered the burial mounds on his family farm. Instead of removing the bones, he only removed the dirt. He covered his excavation with a tent. He later replaced his tent with a building and set up a private museum. The Dickson Mounds Museum is a museum erected on the site in 1972 by the U.S. state of Illinois; it describes the life cycles and culture of Native Americans living in the Illinois River valley over a period of 12,000 years since the last ice age. The museum is part of the Illinois State Museum system.
Location
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Dickson Mounds
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Questions about this property
When was Dickson Mounds listed on the National Register?
Dickson Mounds was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 4, 1972.
What type of historic resource is Dickson Mounds?
Dickson Mounds is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Dickson Mounds?
The period of significance for Dickson Mounds is recorded as the pre_contact era, specifically around 1250.
Can I research the history near Dickson Mounds?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Dickson Mounds will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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