A monument is a type of structure created to commemorate a person or important event. Newark, Ohio, is home to several monuments dedicated to ancient and modern America. These monuments include museums, statues, artifacts and notable architecture from Newark's earlier days.
The Newark Earthworks State Memorial is considered the best preserved example of the monumental geometric earthworks of ancient America. Built by prehistoric Hopewell people between 100 BC and AD 500, the site originally covered four square miles and was part cathedral, part cemetery and part astronomical observatory. Today, only three major segments are preserved: the Great Circle Earthworks, Octagon Earthworks and Wright Earthworks. Visitors to the earthworks are invited to the Great Circle Museum to watch an interactive video explaining the significance of the grounds. A 1,000-square-foot exhibit includes a timeline of Ohio's ancient cultures and details on how the earthworks align with the rising and setting of the moon. Following the museum tour, visitors can take self-guided tours of the earthworks. The Great Circle Museum is also the home of the Licking County Convention and Visitors Bureau (LCCVB). The Newark Earthworks State Memorial is recognized as a National Historic Landmark and was designated as the "official prehistoric monument" of Ohio in 2006. It was one of 14 sites nominated in 2008 by the U.S. Department of Interior to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The monumental National Heisey Glass Museum features thousands of pieces of Heisey glassware in all known colors, patterns and cuts. Etchings, engravings and experimental pieces can also be seen. Heisey glassware was produced by the A.H. Heisey and Company, which operated in Newark from 1896 to 1957. The Heisey Company was the first glass company to make fancy pressed stems. It was also a pioneer in advertising glassware in magazines nationally. The museum is in Veterans Park, at the corner of 6th and Church streets in downtown Newark. It is air conditioned and handicapped-accessible. Tours are self-guided unless requested otherwise.
Measuring 11 feet tall and 15 feet long, the Burning Tree Mastodon is the third largest and most complete skeleton of an American Mastodon ever found. It was discovered in 1989 by a construction crew digging a pond for the Burning Tree Golf Course near Newark. Radiocarbon dating revealed the mastodon was a 30-year-old male, having lived about 11,600 years ago. The skeleton also contained evidence of injuries inflicted by early humans and traces of bacteria. The Burning Tree Mastodon was sold in 1993 to an overseas museum, but not before casts were made from the original bones. A mastodon exhibit at The Works museum in Newark features some of these replicas as well as photos of the three-day excavation.
In 1860, a small inscribed stone was found in a Native American burial mound 10 miles south of Newark. The stone is inscribed on all sides with a condensed version of the Ten Commandments or Decalogue, a form of post-Exilic square Hebrew letters. A robed and bearded figure on the front, later identified as Moses, has letters fanning over his head. An additional stone inscribed with Hebrew letters, called "The Keystone," had been found several months earlier. It is a mystery as to what carved Jewish stones were doing inside an Indian burial mound estimated to be between 800 and 1200 years old. Archeologists believe the monumental stones were hoaxes perpetrated to validate the belief the mound builders were actually the lost tribe of Israel. Today, both stones, known as the "Newark Holy Stones," are on display at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Roscoe Village, a restored canal town in east center Ohio. Plaster casts of the "Newark Holy Stones" may be purchased from the museum.
