Last Indian Mound in St. Louis for Sale
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Dec. 1, 2008
A 1928 house stands beside the last prehistoric Indian mound in the city of St. Louis.
Credit: Andrew Weil, Landmarks Association of St. Louis, Inc.
For the first time in nearly 50 years, the riverfront site containing St. Louis' sole surviving Indian mound has come up for sale.
Sugar Loaf Mound's spectacular location was likely an asset when Indians created it thousands of years ago, but proximity to the river may now seal its fate: buyers intent on acquiring riverfront property "could end up demolishing the mound if they wanted to," says archaeologist Andrew Weil, research associate at Landmarks Association of St. Louis. Although the mound has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984, it's virtually unprotected.
Last month real-estate agent Leigh Maibes of Circa Properties listed the property containing the mound (and a 900-square-foot house built in 1928) for $400,000. About 150 people attended her open house two weeks ago. "The response has been overwhelming," she says. To prevent damage to the mound while it's on the market, Maibes has posted "No Trespassing" signs on the .65-acre site rather than a standard "For Sale" sign.
Maibes says that the property's current owners, Walter and Eileen Strosnider, have welcomed visitors, students, and archaeologists to their yard since they bought it in 1962. Now retired and living in California, "they would be very interested in the property being preserved … [Walter] would like to see the property transferred to someone who would be a good steward and ambassador like he has."
No one knows what the mound was used for, since no archaeological studies have been completed, Weil says. "The safe thing to do is to assume there are burials in it and treat it that way."
Weil's group has met with representatives from Congressman Russ Carnahan's office, the Osage Nation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and two nonprofits, Great Rivers Greenway District, and Confluence Greenway, which Weil says would be ideal stewards for the land.
St. Louis, once known as "Mound City," retained a remarkable collection of prehistoric hills well into the 19th century. Weil says that the sole survivor "is a landmark in the most basic sense of the word. It was an anchoring point for the first surveys of St. Louis. It helped to lay out the boundaries of the town, so it definitely has historic importance."
For more information, visit http://sugarloafmoundstl.com/index.shtml
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