National Register of Historic Places

Sinnissippi Site

Sterling, Whiteside County, Illinois
Listed
May 13, 1979
Type
Site
Period
Listed
Ref No.
79000874

About this property

The Sinnissippi Mounds are a Havana Hopewell culture burial mound grouping located in the city of Sterling, Illinois, United States. The mounds are a product of the Hopewell tradition which flourished in the Sterling area around 2,000 years ago. At that time, the area was at the center of a vast trade network that stretched up and down the Mississippi River. Mounds such as the Sinnissippi are common throughout the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys. The first European settler in Sterling, Hezekiah Brink, noted the mounds when he arrived in 1834. Among some of the other early European settlers was a group of men who were interested in starting a Science Club. The Sterling Scientific Club, in existence as early as the 1870s, made one of their goals the investigation of the burial mounds near the Rock River. W. C. Holbrook investigated the mounds in 1877 and published a lengthy written account in History of Whiteside County, Illinois, published 1877. One year later, another written account of a mound investigation appeared in The Sterling Daily Gazette. After the 1870s, the burial mounds were looted and most of the archaeologically significant material removed. The Sinnissippi Mounds are part of the Sterling Park District's largest park, Sinnissippi Park. The park was acquired in parcels beginning in 1934. The area of the park where the mounds are found, located on a bluff overlooking the Rock River, was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on May 14, 1979, as the Sinnissippi Site. It is listed as one of the National Register's "address restricted" sites, despite its public nature. List of archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois

Location

Sterling, Whiteside County, Illinois

Categories

PREHISTORIC
Sources

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.

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Overview
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The Land
The historic sites and place names around the location, and how this land was settled and used.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back millions of years.
LiDAR Terrain
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Conflict & War
The battles, raids and skirmishes fought near here, across every era of American conflict.
The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
The men who marched from here in the Civil War, named and traced where the record allows.
Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
How the town grew, who came, and what kind of place it became, traced through the census record.
Rivers & Rail
The rivers, canals and railroads that connected this place between 1830 and 1911.
Notable People
The people born, buried or genuinely tied to this exact place, with their stories.
Historical Maps
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Finds & Access
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Literature
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Spotlight
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Points of Interest
The most significant historic sites and landmarks near the location, and why they matter.
Timeline
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Questions about this property

When was Sinnissippi Site listed on the National Register?

Sinnissippi Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 13, 1979.

What type of historic resource is Sinnissippi Site?

Sinnissippi Site is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Sinnissippi Site?

The period of significance for Sinnissippi Site is recorded as the listed era.

Can I research the history near Sinnissippi Site?

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