Golf Course on Native American Earthworks to Move, Ending a Long-Running Legal Battle

An Ohio golf course situated atop a set of Native American earthworks will close, bringing an end to a legal battle over the land that has stretched on for years.

The private course, located in the city of Newark, opened in 1910, and ever since, golfers have been allowed to play on earthworks that are thought to have been built somewhere between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago. The Ohio Historical Connection, a historical society that manages cultural heritage in the state, acquired the deed to the land in 1933 and has leased it to the Moundbuilders Country Club ever since.

The earthworks, formally known as the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks and more casually called the Octagon Earthworks, are considered historically important. They were nominated in 2018 for inclusion on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites, although their status is still pending.

UNESCO’s citation for the earthworks labels them the “most representative surviving expressions of the Indigenous tradition now referred to as the Hopewell culture.” They create rolling hills and uneven surfaces, and are thought to envision the cycles of the Sun and the Moon.

In 2018, after UNESCO began to consider the earthworks for World Heritage status, the Ohio History Connection sued Moundbuilders, seeking the full rights to the land. The suit was meant to ensure greater public access to these earthworks, which have historically been off limits for much of the year to those who aren’t members of Moundbuilders.

Four years later, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Ohio History Connection could move forward with its plans to open up access to the earthworks. Justice Michael P. Donelly, in his majority opinion, said that doing so would “help preserve and ensure perpetual public access to one of the most significant landmarks in the state of Ohio.”

But a settlement was not reached until Thursday, when the Ohio Historical Connection announced that it had reached an agreement to take over the land starting January 1.

Megan Wood, executive director of the Ohio Historical Connection, said in a statement that “our guiding principles throughout this process have been to enable full public access to the Octagon Earthworks while ensuring Moundbuilders Country Club receives just compensation for the value of its lease on the property. And now we have accomplished those things.”

Speaking to the New York Times, David Kratoville, Moundbuilders board president, said the club would now be faced with a significant change. “I don’t know what we’ll land on with a name,” he told the Times. “My priority is getting a deal done.”