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| An illustration of maximum moonrise that occurs once every 18.6 years. Click here for diagrams of other alignments. |
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| THE OCTAGON EARTHWORKS Newark, OH is the only American city with a golf course built around a Native American monument. The Octagon Earthworks is a series of walls that outline a 50 acre octagon connected to a 20 acre circle. The Octagon Earthworks may have been used to observe the moon rising and setting during it's 18.6 year cycle. There is an observation mound which aligns with a narrow corridor connecting the circle with the octagon that is in alignment with the northerly major lunar standstill. While doing research, I learned about the Newark Earthworks last, which is ironic because it was the closest wonder to my home in Cleveland, Ohio. When I visited there, it was very frustrating to view because not only was access limited because it is on a golf course, but also because it is so large that it can only be viewed properly from the air. |
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| A view of the observation mound. Click here for a NY Times article about the conflict of using it during a moonrise. |
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| I marvel at the faith behind the people who built it, for they never had this view. |
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| An immoral lease, has compromised this ancient mound site. The lease expires in 2077. Someday, the golf course will disappear and things will go back to the way they were before. Click on the photo to the right for a closeup, taken from the corridor connecting the octagon with the circle, of what a golf course on an ancient mound site looks like. |