FAIRFIELD – A park just outside of Pickaway county in Stoutsville Ohio has some mystery on how it was built.
The location 11615 16th Road SW is owned by the Fairfield county park district that has owned the park since 1944. The park has two unique features a WPA pedestrian bridge and a cross mound.
The bridge was built in 1936, the suspension-type bridge sits over Salt Creek and has amazing views in the fall, but the mystery surrounds how the ancient earthwork of the cross mound was created. It is in the shape of a plus sign, or cross has four identical arms each about 12′ wide, 3′ high, and 45′ long. In the middle of the cross is a circular-shaped depression that is 20′ in diameter and about 12″ deep. That depression may have been deeper at one time but has filled in overtime. The orientation of the arms nearly aligns with the cardinal points of north, south, east, west. There are small stone mounds near the cross.
Archaeologists have suggested its western arm was carved out of the surrounding landscape as opposed to the traditional approach of mounding soil to create a structure.
No one knows what it was really used for, other than they can tell it is man-made and huge.
This is a great location to go check out this time of year with the leaves beginning to change
