Misplaced Pages

#548451

115-741: Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park (formerly Ocmulgee National Monument ) in Macon, Georgia , United States preserves traces of over ten millennia of culture from the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands . Its chief remains are major earthworks built before 1000 CE by the South Appalachian Mississippian culture (a regional variation of the Mississippian culture .) These include

230-577: A Traditional Cultural Property , the first such site named east of the Mississippi River . The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act , signed March 12, 2019, redesignated it as a national historical park and increased its size by about 2,100 acres. It has an NPS-owned area of 701 acres (2.84 km). The expanded area will be conveyed to the Park Service following redevelopment. 906 acres were transferred to

345-623: A capital offense . But in 1825, Chief McIntosh and his paternal cousin, Georgia Governor George Troup , negotiated an agreement with the US. McIntosh and several other Lower Creek chiefs signed the second Treaty of Indian Springs in 1825. McIntosh ceded the remaining Lower Creek lands to the United States, and the Senate ratified the treaty by one vote, despite its lacking the signature of Muscogee Principal Chief William McIntosh . Soon after that,

460-539: A high bluff overlooking the floodplain of the Ocmulgee River. Magnetometer scans have revealed the platform mound had a spiraling staircase oriented toward the floodplain. The staircase is unique among any of the Mississippian-culture sites. Other earthworks include at least one burial mound . The people built rectangular wooden buildings to house certain religious ceremonies on the top of

575-523: A national park and preserve . The study area includes parts of Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge , Robins Air Force Base , and three Georgia state wildlife management areas . The Muscogee Nation may be a partner in conservation management. In November 2023, the study's findings, which were sent to Congress, concluded that the Corridor proposal was unfeasible at the time due to estimated costs of acquisition, as well as opposition from landowners and

690-501: A 2012 referendum. Macon became the state's fourth-largest city (after Augusta ) when the merger became official on January 1, 2014. Macon is served by three interstate highways : I-16 (connecting to Savannah and coastal Georgia), I-75 (connecting to Atlanta to the north and Valdosta to the south), and I-475 (a city bypass highway). The area has two small general aviation airports, Middle Georgia Regional Airport and Herbert Smart Downtown Airport . Residents traveling to and from

805-844: A catalyst for the Yamasee War in 1715. In an effort to drive the colonists out, the Ochese Creek joined the rebellion and burned the Ocmulgee trading post. In retaliation, the South Carolina authorities began arming the Cherokee , whose attacks forced the Ochese Creek to abandon the Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers, and move west to the Chattahoochee River . The Yamasee took refuge in Spanish Florida. After

920-420: A coherent whole. Some of these categories of artifacts were used as markers of chiefly office, which varied from one location to another. The term Southeast Ceremonial Complex refers to a complex, highly variable set of religious mechanisms that supported the authority of local chiefs . With the redefinition of the complex, some scholars have suggested choosing a new name to exemplify the new understanding of

1035-675: A higher concern in the city. In 2022, Macon set a homicide record with 70 homicides. In 2023, Macon had the highest crime rate in Georgia. Macon had a crime rate of 52.6 crimes per 1,000 residents. Gang activity is a major reason for the crime problem in Macon. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation expanded its Gang Task Force Office to Macon in 2023. As of 2024, crime has reduced in Macon compared to 2022 and 2023. The aerospace, advanced manufacturing, food processing, healthcare, professional services, and warehouse and distribution industries drive

1150-598: A lengthy life, healthy family, and a long line of descendants. Its supernatural origin is placed in the Upper World with a pantheon including the Sun, Moon, and Four Stars. He is most often represented on precious materials, sometimes shell, most often on beaten copper. He dances, costumed with great ground-sweeping wings and a raptor-beaked mask. In his raised right hand he holds a club, prepared to strike. In his left he holds rattles fashioned from human skulls. At Cahokia ,

1265-519: A more archaeologically-based definition for the Mississippian artistic tradition. Jon Muller of Southern Illinois University proposes the classification of the complex into five horizons , with each as a discrete tradition defined by the origin of specific motifs and ritual objects, and the specific developments in long-distance exchange and political structures. Due to the seemingly rapid spread of S.E.C.C. traits, early scholarship described

SECTION 10

#1732788045549

1380-580: A nine-member county commission elected by districts and (ii) a portion of Macon extending into nearby Jones County was disincorporated. Robert Reichert was elected the first mayor of Macon-Bibb in the September 2013 election, which required a runoff with C. Jack Ellis in October. The Ocmulgee River is a major river that runs through the city. Macon is one of Georgia's three major Fall Line Cities , along with Augusta and Columbus . The Fall Line

1495-581: A race. After winning the race, Redhorn creates heads on his earlobes and makes his hair into a long red braid. Thus he becomes known as "Redhorn" and as "He who has Human Heads as Earlobes" . In another episode, Redhorn and his friends are challenged by the Giants to play ball (or possibly chunkey) with their lives staked on the outcome. The best Giant player was a woman with long red hair identical to Redhorn's. The little heads on Redhorn's ears caused her to laugh so much that it interfered with her game and

1610-485: A referendum to merge the governments of the city of Macon and most of unincorporated Bibb County. The vote came after the Georgia General Assembly passed House Bill 1171, authorizing the referendum earlier in the year; Four previous consolidation attempts (in 1933, 1960, 1972, and 1976) failed. As a result of the referendum, (i) the Macon and Bibb County governments were replaced with a mayor and

1725-495: A series of four lists of traits, which they categorized as the Southeastern (centered) Ceremonial Complex . Their concept was of a complex of a specific cult manifestation that originated with Muskogean-speaking peoples in the southern United States. Since then scholars have expanded the original definition, while using its trait lists as a foundation for critical analysis of the entire concept. In 1989 scholars proposed

1840-778: A state transportation hub. In 1895, the New York Times dubbed Macon "The Central City" because of is emergence as a railroad transportation and textile factory hub. Terminal Station was built in 1916. In the twentieth century, Macon grew into a prospering town in Middle Georgia. Macon has been impacted by natural catastrophes. In 1994 Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in Florida and flooded several Georgia cities. Macon, which received 24 inches (61 cm) of rain, suffered major flooding. On May 11, 2008 , an EF2 tornado hit Macon. Touching down in nearby Lizella,

1955-600: A wealthy Scottish fur trader . He achieved influence both within the matrilineal tribe, because of the status of his mother's family, and among the Americans, because of his father's position and wealth. McGillivray secured U.S. recognition of Muscogee and Seminole sovereignty by the Treaty of New York (1790) . But, after the invention of the cotton gin in 1794 made cultivation of short-staple cotton more profitable, Georgians were eager to acquire Muscogee corn fields of

2070-601: A wide trading network and complex, sophisticated culture. On June 14, 1934, the park was authorized by Congress as a national monument and formally established on December 23, 1936, under the National Park Service . As an historic unit of the Park Service, the national monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. In 1997, the NPS designated Ocmulgee Old Fields as

2185-428: A women's school, has basketball, soccer , cross country , tennis, softball , and volleyball teams. The city maintains several parks and community centers. U.S. Senator Augustus Bacon , of Georgia, in his 1911 will, devised land in Macon in trust, to be used as a public park for the exclusive benefit of white people. The park, known as Baconsfield, was operated in that manner for many years. In Evans v. Newton ,

2300-523: Is 10 miles south of Macon on Highway 247, just east of Warner Robins . Macon has been home for numerous musicians and composers, including Emmett Miller , The Allman Brothers Band , Randy Crawford , Mark Heard , Lucille Hegamin , Ben Johnston , Otis Redding , Little Richard , Mike Mills , and Bill Berry of R.E.M. , as well as more recent artists like violinist Robert McDuffie and country artist Jason Aldean . Capricorn Records , run by Macon natives Phil Walden and briefly Alan Walden, made

2415-532: Is approximately 330 feet (100 m) above sea level. Macon has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfa ). The normal monthly mean temperature ranges from 46.3 °F (7.9 °C) in January to 81.8 °F (27.7 °C) in July. On average, there are 4.8 days with 100 °F (38 °C)+ highs, 83 days with 90 °F (32 °C)+ highs, and 43 days with a low at or below freezing;

SECTION 20

#1732788045549

2530-540: Is described as a one-eyed buffalo with one green and one red horn. The Piasa figure of the Miami was painted on a bluff near present-day Alton, Illinois . It was described as having the body of a panther, four legs, a human head, an impossibly long tail and horns. Mishibizhiw , the Ojibwa underwater panther , was a combination of rattlesnake , cougar , deer , and hawk . Other native peoples also gave descriptions of

2645-615: Is from the Ho Chunk , or Winnebago people. The mythic cycle of Red Horn and his sons has certain analogies with the Hero Twins mythic cycle of Mesoamerica . Redhorn was known by many names, including " Morning Star ", a reference to his celestial origin, and "He who is Struck with Deer Lungs," a possible reference to the Bi-Lobed Arrow Motif. In the episode associated with this name, Red Horn turns into an arrow to win

2760-526: Is so similar as to suggest that they were made by the same artist. One was found in southeast Missouri and the other found hundreds of miles away in Spiro Mounds in Oklahoma , suggesting the items were used as gifts or exchange across a wide region. Numerous other pairs of extremely similar gorgets serve to link sites across the entire Southeast. The social organization of the Mississippian culture

2875-575: Is the largest principal city in the Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley CSA , a combined statistical area that includes the Macon metropolitan area (Bibb, Crawford , Jones, Monroe , and Twiggs counties) and the Warner Robins metropolitan area ( Houston , Peach , and Pulaski counties) with a combined population of 411,898 in the 2010 census . As of the official 2010 U.S. census , the population of Macon

2990-464: Is where the hilly lands of the Piedmont plateau meet the flat terrain of the coastal plain . As such, Macon has a varied landscape of rolling hills on the north side and flat plains on the south. The fall line , where the altitude drops noticeably, causes rivers and creeks in the area to flow rapidly toward the ocean. In the past, Macon and other Fall Line cities had many textile mills powered by

3105-581: The Atrium Health Navicent and Piedmont Healthcare Macon hospital systems, two of the city's largest employers, making Macon the healthcare hub for the Middle and South Georgia regions. The 2010 Census listed Macon's median household income as $ 28,366, below the state average of $ 49,347. The median family income was $ 37,268. Full-time working males had a median income of $ 34,163, higher than the $ 28,082 for females. The city's per capita income

3220-466: The Braden Style and from each other. During the ensuing centuries, the local traditions diverged into the religious beliefs and cosmologies of the different historic tribes known to exist at the time of European contact. Most S.E.C.C. imagery focuses on cosmology and the supernatural beings who inhabit the cosmos. The cosmological map encompassed real, knowable locations, whether in this world or

3335-746: The Georgia Department of Natural Resources , but also assessed the Corridor as meeting criteria for "national significance and suitability" and recommended a scaled-down plan covering less land and operating as a public-private partnership (such as a National Heritage Area or National Historic Landmark designation) in association with the Muscogee Nation and other stakeholders. Despite the study's findings and recommendations, Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and Representatives Sanford Bishop and Austin Scott , whose districts covered

3450-732: The Red Horn mythological cycle and native religion of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebagos), Osage , Ioway , and other plains Siouan peoples. In the Braden Style, the Birdman is divided into four categories. Various motifs are associated with the Birdman, including the forked eye motif, columnella pendants, mace or club weapons, severed heads, chunkey play (including chunkey stones, striped and broken chunkey sticks), bellows-shaped aprons, and bi-lobed arrow motifs. The Red Horn Mythic Cycle

3565-712: The Shawnee chief Tecumseh and were seeking to drive the Americans out of their territory. The Lower Creek fought alongside the U.S. against the Red Sticks. Led by Chief William McIntosh , the Lower Creek also allied with the United States in the First Seminole War in Florida. McIntosh's influence in the area was extended by his family ties to Georgia's planter elite through his wealthy Scots father of

Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

3680-467: The Supreme Court of the United States held that the park could not continue to be operated on a racially discriminatory basis. The Supreme Court of Georgia thereupon declared "that the sole purpose for which the trust was created has become impossible of accomplishment" and remanded the case to the trial court, which held cy-près doctrine to be inapplicable, since the park's segregated character

3795-702: The Timucua and Apalachee . The colonists and some of their Indian allies sold their captives into slavery , with many being transported to Caribbean plantations. Together with extensive fatalities from epidemics of infectious diseases , the warfare caused Florida's indigenous population to fall from about 16,000 in 1685 to 3,700 by 1715. As Florida was depopulated, the English-allied tribes grew indebted to slave traders in Carolina. They paid other tribes to attack and enslave Native Americans, raids that were

3910-782: The 1830s. The Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw , Chickasaw , and most of the Seminole , known as the Five Civilized Tribes, were all removed from the Southeast to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Following Indian Removal , the Muscogee reorganized in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). In 1867 they founded a new capital, which they called Okmulgee in honor of their sacred mounds on

4025-414: The Carolina region that they depended on Native American alliances for security and survival. In 1702, Carolina governor James Moore raised a militia of 50 colonists and 1,000 Yamasee and Ochese Creek warriors. From 1704 to 1706, they attacked and destroyed a significant number of Spanish missions in coastal Georgia and Florida . They captured numerous Indians who were referred to as Mission tribes:

4140-554: The Duvall, Iron Horse, Dyar, and Bell phases. The people at Lamar had a village associated with the mounds. They protected it by a constructed defensive palisade of logs placed vertically. They built rectangular houses, with roofs made of thatch or sod and clay-plastered walls, which were located around the mounds. This archeological site of a former settlement is now protected as the Lamar Mounds and Village Site . Lamar pottery

4255-739: The Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church chose Macon as the location for Wesleyan College , the first U.S. college to grant women college degrees. Nonetheless, Macon came in last in the 1855 referendum voting to be Georgia's capital city with 3,802 votes. During the American Civil War , Macon served as the official arsenal of the Confederacy manufacturing percussion caps , friction primers , and pressed bullets . Camp Oglethorpe

4370-495: The Georgia state government proceeded with evicting Creek from lands under the 1825 treaty. It also passed laws dissolving tribal government and regulating residency on American Indian lands. In 1828, Andrew Jackson was elected president. He supported Indian removal , signing legislation to that effect by Congress in 1830. Later he used US Army forces to remove the remnants of the Southeastern Indian tribes through

4485-448: The Giants lost. The Giants lost all the other contests as well. Then they challenged Redhorn and his friends to a wrestling match in which they threw all but Red Horn's friend Turtle. Since Redhorn and his fellow spirits lost two out of the three matches, they were all slain. The two wives of Redhorn were pregnant at the time of his death. The sons born to each have red hair, with the older one having heads where his earlobes should be, and

4600-524: The Great Temple and other ceremonial mounds , a burial mound , and defensive trenches . They represented highly skilled engineering techniques and soil knowledge, and the organization of many laborers. The site has evidence of "12,000 years of continuous human habitation." The 3,336-acre (13.50 km) park is located on the east bank of the Ocmulgee River . Macon, Georgia developed around

4715-563: The Macon Plateau culture, a local expression of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture. During this period, an elite society supported by skillful farmers developed a town. Leaders directed the complex construction of large, earthwork platform mounds , the central structures on the plateau. Carrying earth by hand in bags, thousands of workers built the 55 ft (17 m)-high Great Temple Mound on

Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

4830-519: The Macon Plateau mounds. Some Muscogee settled nearby, developing a village along the Ocmulgee River near the post, where they could easily acquire trade goods. They defied efforts by Spanish Florida authorities to bring them into the mission province of Apalachee . The traders referred to both the river and the peoples living along it as "Ochese Creek." Later usage shortened the term to Creek, which traders and colonists applied to all Muskogean -speaking peoples. The Muscogee called their village near

4945-583: The Mississippian Period of 800–1600 CE. In 1540, the expedition of Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto recorded its travel through the chiefdom of Ichisi. Historians and archeologists believe this was likely what is now known as the Lamar site. The Spaniards left a trail of destruction in their wake as they explored the present-day Southeastern U.S. in a failed search for precious metals. Their deadliest legacy of unintended consequences

5060-402: The Mississippian cultures declined and disappeared. Hierarchical chiefdoms crumbled. They were replaced by loose confederacies of clans and the rise of historic regional tribes. The clans did not produce the agricultural surpluses of the previous society, which had supported the former population density and development of complex culture. Agriculture had enabled the development of hierarchy in

5175-657: The Muscogee Creek tribe of historic times, the site has evidence of 12,000 years of human habitation. The Macon plateau was inhabited during the Paleoindian , Archaic , and Woodland phases. The major occupation was ca. 950–1150 CE during the Early Mississippian -culture phase. The people of this sophisticated, stratified culture built the complex, massive earthworks that expressed their religious and political system. Archeologists call this society

5290-548: The Muskogean-speaking peoples of the Southeast. They considered the ancient Mississippian mounds at Ocmulgee to be sacred and made pilgrimages there. According to Muscogee oral tradition, the mounds area was "the place where we first sat down", after their ancestors ended their migration journey from the West. In 1690, Scottish fur traders from Carolina built a trading post on Ochese Creek (Ocmulgee River), near

5405-542: The Ocmulgee River watershed in question, announced their intent to support the intended expansion. Macon, Georgia Macon ( / ˈ m eɪ k ən / MAY -kən ), officially Macon–Bibb County , is a consolidated city-county in Georgia , United States. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River , it is 85 miles (137 km) southeast of Atlanta and near the state's geographic center—hence its nickname " The Heart of Georgia ". Macon's population

5520-410: The S.E.C.C. Its roots go back to Hopewell times, if not earlier. It usually is described as horned and winged, although the wings are more an indicator of its celestial origin than an essential form of the creature. In some versions of Shawnee myths, the serpent is described as a multi-headed monster with one green and one red horn, horns being a manifestation or marker of its power. In other myths, it

5635-519: The S.E.C.C. as "a kind of religious revival in the lower Mississippi Valley" and nearby regions. As of 2004, theories suggest that the complex developed from pre-existing beliefs spread over the midwest and southeast by the Hopewell Interaction Sphere from 100 BCE to 500 CE. Other research shows the complex operated as an exchange network. This kind of network may be illustrated by a pair of shell gorgets whose representation

5750-659: The Southeast territory south of the Ohio River for more than 20 years, had lived among the Creek , and was married to a Creek woman. Located at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River , the fort established a trading post with Native peoples at the river's most inland point navigable from the Low Country . Fort Hawkins guarded the Lower Creek Pathway, an extensive and well-traveled American Indian network that

5865-501: The Southern Cult Period horizon defined by Muller. Other regional styles developed as a result of the fusion of ideas borrowed from the Braden Style and pre-existing local expressions of post-Hopewellian traditions. Projected development of Mississippian Art and Ceremonial Complex (M.A.C.C.) styles As the major centers, such as Cahokia, collapsed and the trade networks broke down, the regional styles diverged more from

SECTION 50

#1732788045549

5980-457: The U.S. government later improved as the Federal Road , linking Washington, D.C., to the ports of Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana . Used for trading with the Creek, the fort also was used by state militia and federal troops. It was a major military distribution point during the War of 1812 and the Creek War of 1813. After the wars, it was a trading post and garrisoned troops until 1821. Decommissioned around 1828, it later burned to

6095-416: The Upper Creek wanted to revive traditional culture and religion, and a young group of men, the Red Sticks, formed around their prophets. The US and Georgia forces used the fort as a base during the Creek War of 1813–1814. At the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, General Andrew Jackson defeated the Red Stick faction of the Upper Creek. Together with their own issues, the Red Sticks had been influenced by

6210-466: The Upper and Under realms were in constant opposition to each other. Ritual and ceremony were the means by which these powerful forces could be accessed and harnessed. Many common motifs in S.E.C.C. artwork are locative symbols that help determine where the action takes place and where the beings originated: The falcon is one of the most conspicuous symbols of the S.E.C.C. It was simultaneously an avatar of warriors and an object of supplication for

6325-412: The Yamasee War, remnants of Mission Indians, and fugitive slaves , to form a new tribe which became known as the Seminole . They spoke mostly Muscogee. The Ocmulgee mounds evoked awe in eighteenth-century travelers. The naturalist William Bartram journeyed through Ocmulgee in 1774 and 1776. He described the "wonderful remains of the power and grandeur of the ancients in this part of America." Bartram

6440-560: The area mainly use the large commercial airport in Atlanta , approximately 80 miles to the northwest. The city has several institutions of higher education and numerous museums and tourism sites. Macon was founded on the site of the Ocmulgee Old Fields, where the Creek Indians lived in the 18th century. Their predecessors, the Mississippian culture , built a powerful agriculture-based chiefdom (950–1100 AD). The Mississippian culture constructed earthwork mounds for ceremonial, religious, and burial purposes. Indigenous peoples inhabited

6555-468: The areas along the Southeast's rivers for 13,000 years before Europeans arrived. Macon was developed at the site of Fort Benjamin Hawkins , built in 1809 at President Thomas Jefferson's direction after he forced the Creek to cede their lands east of the Ocmulgee River . (Archeological excavations in the 21st century found evidence of two separate fortifications.) The fort was named for Benjamin Hawkins , who served as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for

6670-426: The average window for freezing temperatures is November 7 thru March 22, allowing a growing season of 228 days. The city has an average annual precipitation of 45.7 inches (1,160 mm). The wettest day on record was July 5, 1994, with 10.25 inches (260 mm) of rain, and the wettest month on record was July 1994, with 18.16 inches (461 mm) of rain. On the other hand, since 1892, when precipitation records for

6785-450: The being, sometimes now referred to as the Spirit Otter , with the majority seeming to belong to one of two extremes, and a multitude in between. The Great Serpents, the great denizens of the Underworld, were described as powerful beings who were in constant antagonism with the forces of the Upper World, usually represented by the Thunderers (Birdmen or Falcon beings). Although men were to be careful of these beings, they could also be

6900-455: The beneficial local Black Belt geology and the availability of slave labor , cotton became the mainstay of Macon's early economy. The city's location on the Ocmulgee River aided initial economic expansion, providing shipping access to new markets. Cotton steamboats , stagecoaches, and the 1843 arrival of the railroad increased marketing opportunities and contributed to Macon's economic prosperity. Macon's growth had other benefits. In 1836,

7015-420: The campus's trees were snapped or uprooted and several buildings were damaged, with the gymnasium suffering the worst. The tornado's intensity varied from EF0 to EF2, with the EF2 damage and winds up to 130 miles per hour (210 km/h) occurring near the intersection of Eisenhower Parkway and Pio Nono Avenue. On July 31, 2012, voters in Macon (57.8 percent approval) and Bibb County (56.7 percent approval) passed

SECTION 60

#1732788045549

7130-511: The ceremonial center, ca. 1350 a new culture coalesced among people who lived in the swamps downstream. The Late Mississippian period (1350–1600 CE), also consisted of the Lamar Period, where natives built two mounds that have survived at that site, including a unique spiral mound. The Lamar period is composed of four distinct phases that lasted between the years 1375 and 1670. It is identified through unique ceramic design elements that were primarily produced during this period. These four phases were

7245-412: The chief Menama and 200 warriors attacked McIntosh's plantation. They killed him and burned down his mansion in retaliation for his alienating the communal lands. William McIntosh and a Muscogee delegation from the National Council went to Washington to protest the treaty to President John Quincy Adams. The US government and the Creek negotiated a new treaty, called the Treaty of New York (1826) , but

7360-581: The city a Southern rock music production center in the late 1960s and 1970s. The Macon Symphony Orchestra, a youth symphony, and the Middle Georgia Concert Band perform at the Grand Opera House in downtown Macon . The Georgia Music Hall of Fame was located in Macon from 1996 to 2011. Macon is home to the Mercer Bears , with NCAA Division I teams in soccer (men's and women's), football , baseball , basketball (men's and women's), tennis , and lacrosse . Central Georgia Technical College competes in men's and women's basketball. Wesleyan College,

7475-419: The city began, there have been two months, October 1961 and October 1963, which did not even record a trace of precipitation in the city, and two other months, October 1939 and May 2007, which only recorded a trace. Snow is occasional, with about half of the winters receiving trace amounts or no snowfall, averaging 0.7 inches (1.8 cm); the snowiest winter was 1972−73 with 16.5 in (42 cm). Macon

7590-448: The city's economy in the 2000s. In recent years, the city has successfully landed numerous new employers to diversify the economy, such as Irving Consumer Products and Kuhmo Tire manufacturing plants, as well as multiple aerospace employers at the Middle Georgia Regional Airport , including an Embraer aircraft maintenance facility. The health care and social assistance sector is the largest industry in Macon by number of employees, with

7705-477: The colonial traders. Carolinian fur traders , who were men of capital, took Muscogee wives, often the daughters of chiefs . It was a practice common also among European fur traders in Canada; both the fur traders and Aboriginal Canadians saw such marriages as a way to increase the alliances among the elite of both cultures. The fur traders encouraged the Muscogee slaving raids against Spanish " Mission Indians ." The English and Scots colonists were so few in number in

7820-413: The consolidated Macon-Bibb County in October 2013. There are also 9 County Commissioners elected from districts within the county. On March 15, 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the former County Manager, Dale M. Walker, with fraud. Bibb County Public School District operates district public schools. Public high schools include: Georgia Academy for the Blind , operated by

7935-598: The defeat of the Yamasee, former soldier James Oglethorpe established the colony of Georgia , founding the settlement of Savannah on the coast in 1733. Although various development schemes were attempted (silkworm cultivation, production of naval stores), the colony did not become profitable until after Georgia ended its prohibition of slavery. The founders had intended to provide a colony for hardworking yeomen laborers, but not enough people were willing to immigrate from England and bear its hard conditions. The colony began to import enslaved Africans as laborers and to develop

8050-436: The east bank called the Ocmulgee Old Fields Reserve. It included both the mounds on the Macon Plateau and the Lamar mounds. In 1806 the Jefferson administration ordered Fort Benjamin Hawkins to be built on a hill overlooking the mounds. The fort was of national and state military importance through 1821, used as a US Army command headquarters, and a supply depot for campaigns in the War of 1812 and later. Economically, it

8165-406: The economy in Macon-Bibb County. Long-standing large private employers include Mercer University , GEICO 's Southeast Corporate Headquarters, YKK USA, and Norfolk Southern Railway 's Brosnan Yard. The decline of the textile industry in the South, along with the shuttering of other large manufacturing operations, such as the closing of the Brown and Williamson plant in 2006, caused a decline in

8280-506: The falcon imagery was elaborated in figural expression. It is associated with warfare, high-stakes gaming, and possibly family dynastic ambitions, symbolized by arrow flights and the rising of the pre-dawn morning star as metaphors for the succession of descendants into the future. Raptor imagery gained prominence during the Hopewell period , but attained its peak in the Braden Style of the early Mississippian period. It survived afterward in

8395-403: The ground. A replica of the southeast blockhouse was built in 1938 and stands on an east Macon hill. Fort Hawkins Grammar School occupied part of the site. In the 21st century, archeological excavations have revealed more of the fort, increasing its historical significance, and led to further reconstruction planning for this major historical site. With the arrival of more settlers, Fort Hawkins

8510-780: The intervening centuries. It may be judged by looking at the remaining artifacts that S.E.C.C. practitioners worked with feathers and designs woven into cloth, practiced body painting, and possibly tattooing , as well as having pierced ears. One surviving painting found on a baked clay floor at the Wickliffe Mounds site suggests they also painted designs in and on their dwellings. Paintings displaying S.E.C.C. imagery also have been found in caves, most notably Mud Glyph Cave in Tennessee. Animal images, serpents, and warrior figures occur, as well as winged warriors, horned snakes, stylized birds, maces, and arrows. Their location underneath

8625-573: The labor-intensive rice , cotton and indigo plantations in the 1750s in the Low Country and on the Sea Islands. These commodity crops, based on slave labor, generated the wealth of the planter class of Georgia and South Carolina. Because of continuing conflicts with European colonists and other Muscogee groups, many Ochese Creek migrated from Georgia to Spanish Florida in the later 18th century. There they joined with earlier refugees of

8740-473: The large body of art symbols classified as the S.E.C.C. Participants of a decade-long series of conferences held at Texas State University have proposed the terms "Mississippian Ideological Interaction Sphere" or "M.I.I.S." and "Mississippian Art and Ceremonial Complex" or "M.A.C.C." The major expression of the complex developed at the Cahokia site and is known as the Braden Style; it corresponds with

8855-462: The larger population. Its leaders planned and directed the corvée labor system that raised and maintained the great earthen mounds. The culture supported artisans as well. By the late 18th century, the largest Native American confederacy in present-day Georgia and Alabama was the Muscogee confederacy (known during the colonial and federal periods as the Muscogee Creek tribe). They were among

8970-470: The last time at Ocmulgee Old Fields. In 1821, Chief McIntosh agreed to the first Treaty of Indian Springs , by which the Lower Creek ceded their lands east of the Flint River , including Ocmulgee Old Fields, to the United States. In 1822 the state chartered Bibb County , and the following year the town of Macon was founded. The Creek National Council struggled to end such land cessions by making them

9085-404: The myth seem to be tied integrally to the pipe ceremony, and its association with kinship and adoption. In fact, the Bi-Lobed Arrow Motif may be a graphic depiction of the calumet. Other images found in S.E.C.C. art show figures with long-nosed god maskettes on their ears and in place of their nipples. The Great Serpent (or Horned Serpent) is the most well-known mythological figure from

9200-470: The nearby state capital of Milledgeville , and Maconites prepared for an attack. Sherman, however, passed by without entering Macon. The Macon Telegraph reported the city had furnished 23 companies of men for the Confederacy, but casualties were high. By war end, Maconite survivors fit for duty could fill only five companies. The city was taken by Union forces during Wilson's Raid on April 20, 1865. Because of its central location, Macon developed as

9315-568: The park on February 9, 2022, after negotiations headed by the Open Space Institute halted incompatible industrial development adjacent to the park; under the same deal, an additional 45 acres were transferred to the Ocmulgee Land Trust while wetlands restoration occurs, and will be transferred to the park at a later date. Ocmulgee's visitor center includes an archaeology museum. It displays artifacts and interprets

9430-531: The park road. Other surviving prehistoric features in the park include a burial mound, platform mounds , and earthwork trenches . The historic site of the English colonial trading post at Ocumulgee, when they were allied with the Muscogee, is also part of the park. It was discovered during archeological excavations in the 1930s. The main section of Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park is accessible from U.S. Route 80 , off Interstate 16 (which passes through

9545-554: The park. In the early 1990s, the National Park Service renovated its facilities at the park. The large park encompasses 702 acres (2.84 km), and has 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (8.9 km) of walking trails. Near the visitor center is a reconstructed ceremonial earthlodge, based on a 1,000-year-old structure excavated by archeologists. Visitors can reach the Great Temple Mound via a half-mile walk or

9660-591: The plateau of the Georgia fall line. While the mounds had been studied by some travelers, professional excavation under the evolving techniques of archeology did not begin until the 1930s, under the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression . The Works Progress Administration (WPA) sponsored large-scale archaeological digs at the site between 1933 and 1942. Workers excavated portions of eight mounds, finding an array of significant archeological artifacts that revealed

9775-432: The platform mounds. The mounds at Ocmulgee were unusual because they were constructed further from each other than was typical of other Mississippian complexes. Scholars believe this was to provide for public space and residences around the mounds. Circular earth lodges were built to serve as places to conduct meetings and important ceremonies. Remains of one of the earth lodges were carbon dated to 1050 CE. This evidence

9890-455: The population. By the 2020 census, its population increased to 157,346. There were 38,444 households, out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.0% were married couples living together, 25.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

10005-482: The rivers. Macon is located at 32°50′05″N 83°39′06″W  /  32.834839°N 83.651672°W  / 32.834839; -83.651672 (32.834839, −83.651672). According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 56.3 square miles (146 km ), of which 55.8 square miles (145 km ) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km ) (0.82%) is water. Macon

10120-595: The same name. McIntosh was also connected to the McGillivray clan. A resident of Savannah , the senior McIntosh had strong ties to the British and had served as a Loyalist officer during the American Revolution . He tried to recruit the Lower Creek to fight for the British in the war. Remaining in the new United States after the war, he became a cotton planter . In 1819, the Lower Creek gathered for

10235-655: The site after the United States built Fort Benjamin Hawkins nearby in 1806 to support trading with Native Americans. For thousands of years, succeeding cultures of prehistoric indigenous peoples had settled on what is called the Macon Plateau at the Fall Line , where the rolling hills of the Piedmont met the Atlantic coastal plain . The monument designation included the Lamar Mounds and Village Site , located downriver about three miles (4.8 km) from Macon. The site

10350-601: The sons of Redhorn decide to go on the warpath. The older brother asks "Storms as He Walks" for the Thunderbird war bundle . After some effort, it is produced, but the Thunderbirds demand that it have a case. A friend of the sons of Redhorn offers his own body as its case. The boys take the Thunderbird war bundle and with their followers go on a raid to the other side of the sky. Many S.E.C.C. images seem to be of Red Horn, his companions, and his sons. The characters in

10465-496: The source of great power. A Shawnee myth tells of the capture and dismemberment of Msi Kinepikwa . The pieces were distributed to the five septs of the tribe, who kept them in their sacred "medicine bundles". S.E.C.C. motifs have been found on a variety of non-perishable materials, including marine shell , ceramics , chert ( Duck River cache ), carved stone , and copper ( Wulfing cache and Etowah plates ). Undoubtedly many other materials also were used, but haven't survived

10580-484: The southwest edge of the park). It is open daily except Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The Lamar Mounds and Village Site is an isolated unit of the park, located in the swamps about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Macon. The Lamar Site is open on a limited basis. In 2022, the NPS conducted a Special Resource Study on the Ocmulgee River Corridor, which could have recommended expansion of the area as

10695-401: The state of Georgia, is a statewide school for blind students. Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Due to some similarities between S.E.C.C. and contemporary Mesoamerican cultures (i.e., artwork with similar aesthetics or motifs; maize-based agriculture; and the development of sophisticated cities with large pyramidal structures), scholars from the late 1800s to mid-1900s suspected there

10810-422: The successive cultures of the prehistoric Native Americans who inhabited this site for thousands of years. In addition, it interprets the historic Muscogee Creek tribe and the their diverse tribal towns who settled this region archaeologically and historically during the colonial era. The visitor center includes a short orientation film for the site. Its gift shop has a variety of craft goods, and books related to

10925-584: The supernatural reality of the Otherworld. S.E.C.C. iconography portrayed the cosmos in three levels. The Above World or Overworld, was the home of the Thunderers , the Sun, Moon, and Morning Star or Red Horn / "He Who Wears Human Heads For Earrings" and represented Order and Stability. The Middle World was the Earth that humans live in. The Beneath World or Under World was a cold, dark place of Chaos that

11040-667: The tornado moved northeast to the southern shore of Lake Tobesofkee , continued into Macon, and lifted near Dry Branch in Twiggs County. The storm's total path length was 18 miles (29 km), and its path width was 100 yards (91 m). The tornado produced sporadic areas of major damage, with widespread straight-line wind damage along its southern track. The most significant damage was along Eisenhower Parkway and Pio Nono Avenue in Macon, where two businesses were destroyed and several others were heavily damaged. The tornado also impacted Middle Georgia State College, where almost half of

11155-408: The trading-post Ocmulgee (bubbling waters) in the local Hitchiti language. Carolina European colonists called it Ocmulgee Town, and later named the river after it. . The Muscogee traded pelts of white tailed deer and Native American slaves captured in traditional raids against other tribes. They received West Indian rum , European cloth, glass beads, hatchets, swords, and flintlock rifles from

11270-445: The uplands area to develop as cotton plantations; they began to encroach on the native territory. Short-staple cotton could be grown here, whereas Low Country plantations had to use long-staple cotton. Under government pressure in 1805, the Lower Creek ceded their lands east of the Ocmulgee River to the state of Georgia, but they refused to surrender the sacred mounds. They retained a 3-by-5-mile (4.8 km × 8.0 km) area on

11385-428: The younger one having heads in place of his nipples. The older brother discovers where the Giants keep the heads of Redhorn and his friends. The two boys use their powers to steal the heads from the Giants, whom they wipe out almost completely. The boys bring back to life Redhorn, Storms as He Walks, and Turtle. In honor of this feat, Turtle and "Storms as He Walks" promise the boys special weapons. In another episode,

11500-516: Was $ 17,010. About 24.1% of families and 30.6% of the population were below the poverty line , including 43.6% of those under age 18 and 18.4% of those over 65. Malls include The Shoppes at River Crossing , Macon Mall , and Eisenhower Crossing. Traditional shopping centers are in the downtown area and Ingleside Village. Macon is the headquarters of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team , Georgia Army National Guard . The largest single-site industrial complex in Georgia, Robins Air Force Base ,

11615-623: Was 157,346 in the 2020 census . It is the principal city of the Macon metropolitan statistical area , which had 234,802 people in 2020. It also is the largest city in the Macon–Warner Robins Combined Statistical Area (CSA), which had approximately 420,693 residents in 2017 and abuts the Atlanta metropolitan area to the northwest. Voters approved the consolidation of the City of Macon and Bibb County governments in

11730-403: Was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.08. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.7 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 72.8 males. Since 2020, crime has become

11845-565: Was 91,351. In the last official census, in 2000, there were 97,255 people, 38,444 households, and 24,219 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,742.8 inhabitants per square mile (672.9/km ). There were 44,341 housing units at an average density of 794.6 per square mile (306.8/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 67.94% African American , 28.56% White , 0.02% Native American , 0.65% Asian , 0.03% Pacific Islander , 0.46% from other races , and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.48% of

11960-449: Was a connection between the two locations. One hypothesis was that Meso-Americans enslaved by conquistador Tristán de Luna y Arellano (1510-1573) may have spread artistic and religious elements to North America. However, later research indicates the two cultures have no direct links and that their civilizations developed independently. The S.E.C.C. was first defined in 1945 by the archaeologists Antonio Waring and Preston Holder as

12075-403: Was an essential and inseparable part of Bacon's plan. The trial court ruled that the trust failed and that the property reverted to Bacon's heirs. The Supreme Court of Georgia and the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed. The 50-acre (20 ha) park was lost and commercially developed. Prior to 2013, the city government consisted of a mayor and city council. Robert Reichert was elected the first mayor of

12190-733: Was based on warfare , which was represented by an array of motifs and symbols in articles made from costly raw materials, such as conches from Florida , copper from the Great Lakes area and Appalachian Mountains, lead from northern Illinois and Iowa , pottery from Tennessee , and stone tools sourced from Kansas , Texas , and southern Illinois . Such objects occur in elite burials , together with war axes , maces , and other weapons. These warrior symbols occur alongside other artifacts, which bear cosmic imagery depicting animals , humans , and legendary creatures . This symbolic imagery bound together warfare, cosmology , and nobility into

12305-574: Was designated for federal protection by the National Park Service (NPS) in 1934, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and redesignated in 2019 as a national historical park . Ocmulgee ( / oʊ k ˈ m ʌ l ɡ iː / ) is a memorial to ancient indigenous peoples in Southeastern North America. The name comes from the Mikasuki Oki Molki , meaning 'Bubbling Water'. From Ice Age hunters to

12420-399: Was distinctive, stamped with complex designs like the pottery of the earlier Woodland peoples. It was unlike other pottery of the Macon Plateau culture. Many archaeologists believe the Lamar culture was related to the earlier Woodland inhabitants, who, after being displaced by the newer Mississippian culture migrants, developed a hybrid culture. Late Woodland Period characteristics extended into

12535-399: Was established as a prison for captured Union officers and enlisted men. Later, it held only officers, at one time numbering 2,300. The camp was evacuated in 1864. Macon City Hall served as the temporary state capitol in 1864 and was converted to a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers. The Union General William Tecumseh Sherman spared Macon on his march to the sea . His troops sacked

12650-599: Was home to the Underwater Panther and Corn Mother or "Old Woman Who Never Dies". These three worlds were connected by an axis mundi , usually portrayed as a cedar tree or a striped pole reaching from the Under World to the Over World. Each of the three levels also was believed to have its own sub-levels. Deeply ingrained in the world view was the concept of duality and opposition. The beings of

12765-588: Was important as a trading post, or United States factory , to regulate the Creek Nation's trade in deerskins. In addition, it served as a headquarters and mustering area for the Georgia state militia. It served as a point of contact among the Creek Nation, the US, and the state of Georgia military and political representatives. Tensions among the Upper Creek and Lower Creek towns increased with encroachment by European-American settlers in Georgia. Many among

12880-490: Was likely related to the pigs they brought as food supply. Escaping pigs became feral, disrupting local habitat and spreading Eurasian infectious diseases . As the American Indians had no acquired immunity to these new diseases, they suffered high fatalities. The rate of deaths caused social dislocations and likely contributed to a collapse of the Mississippian cultures. In the aftermath of De Soto's expedition,

12995-519: Was renamed "Newtown". After Bibb County 's organization in 1822, the city was chartered as the county seat in 1823 and officially named Macon, in honor of Nathaniel Macon , a statesman from North Carolina, from where many early Georgia residents hailed. City planners envisioned "a city within a park" and created a city of spacious streets and landscapes. Over 250 acres (1.0 km ) were dedicated for Central City Park, and ordinances required residents to plant shade trees in their front yards. Because of

13110-496: Was the basis for the reconstructed lodge which archeologists later built at the park center. The interior features a raised-earth platform, shaped like an eagle with a forked-eye motif. Molded seats on the platform were built for the leaders. The eagle was a symbol of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex , which the people shared with other Mississippian cultures. As the Mississippian culture declined at

13225-601: Was the first to record the Muscogee oral histories of the mounds' origins. The Lower Creek of Georgia initially had good relations with the federal government of the United States, based on the diplomacy of both Benjamin Hawkins , President George Washington 's Indian agent, and the Muscogee Principal Chief Alexander McGillivray . McGillivray was the son of Sehoy II , a Muscogee woman of the Wind Clan, and Lachlan McGillivray,

#548451