Tat’s Bizarre Travels

Moundsville, WV - The Grave Creek Mound is the mound that the town of Moundsville was named after. Although there were several burial mounds in the area, none was comparable in size. At 62′ tall and 240′ across the widest part the mound is rather large. One of the only real perks of visiting the museum is that you can walk the stone stairway that leads to the top of the mound where a 6′ obelisk lives to tell you what direction is North, South, East and West, as well as which teenagers love each other forever! It gives you a nice, although rather unimpressive, view of all of Moundsville. You get an especially nice look at the West Virginia Penitentiary right across the street.

Unfortunately the mound climb is the most exciting part of visiting the Grave Creek Mound, which is an especially big letdown after viewing the lovely dioramas that show the native Adena people building the mound. There are some nice graphics depicting the mound in cross sections and boasting about the burial of the two people who were found in the mound. There are quite a few stories that talk about various excavations and a room where you’re led to believe archeology happens. But all of this is a tease. While walking through the museum I got excited about the possibility of walking through tunnels that lead into the mine to view the tombs of these very important Adena men. Sadly the tunnels are gone and the mound just sits there, tall and uneventful.