Mangum Indian Mound on the Natchez Trace Parkway
Grindstone Ford and Mangum Indian Mound Main Page
Mangum Indian Mound on the Natchez Trace Parkway is pretty much a non-event. If you’ve never seen an Indian mound, it’s nothing more than an artificial hill built to either create a platform for man-made structures or serve as a place to bury people. Mangum Mound is a burial mound, which may account for its lack of a flat top characteristic of structural mounds. As a result, it REALLY looks like a hill, and if you weren’t told otherwise, you would never suspect that what you were seeing has any historical significance. Also, some mounds can be climbed, but not this one. Taking a quick look from your car is about all you can do.
Mangum Mound was in use between 1350 and 1500 AD. The mound was named after the farmer who once owned the property, Spurgeon Mangum. It was Mangum who first dug around in the mound and found human remains and two copper plates, which are rare for the time. In the early 1960s the National Park Service excavated the site and found the remains of 84 people.
Panoramic photo of Mangum Mound (click to enlarge)
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Last updated on December 10, 2021
