Newark Earthworks

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The Newark Earthworks near Newark and Heath, Ohio, are three ancient earth structures built by the Hopewell culture between 100 BCE and 400 CE. They are the largest earthen enclosures in North America, originally covering about 3,000 acres. Today only a fraction remains, with about 206 acres preserved.

The three parts are the Great Circle Earthworks, the Octagon Earthworks, and the Wright Earthworks. The Great Circle sits in Heath and is a huge circular enclosure about 1,200 feet wide, with a 5-foot-deep moat and 8-foot-high walls. The entrance breaks in the wall are visible from outside.

The Octagon Earthworks includes Observatory Mound, Observatory Circle (about 20 acres), and the Octagon itself (about 50 acres). The Octagon has eight walls about 550 feet long. From the observatory mound, the moon rises near the center of the octagon, and researchers say the complex served as a lunar observatory tracking the Moon’s 18.6-year cycle.

The Wright Earthworks are a fragment of a square enclosure about 20 acres. Much of the square and its mounds were destroyed by 19th-century canal work and later urban development, leaving a remaining wall segment of less than 200 feet.

These earthworks were used for ceremonies, social gatherings, trade, worship, and honoring the dead. The Octagon is considered to have had scientific purposes. The Newark Earthworks are the largest surviving Hopewell earthwork complex in North America.

History and preservation: Squier and Davis documented the site for the Smithsonian in the 1830s–40s. The Octagon and Great Circle are managed by the Ohio History Connection. The Wright Earthworks area was long leased to a golf club (Moundbuilders Country Club), from the early 1900s until January 1, 2025, when the club left the site. The Ohio History Connection continues to oversee access and preservation.

The Newark Earthworks are a National Historic Landmark (designated 1964) and were added to the National Register of Historic Places (1966). Ohio named it the official prehistoric monument in 2006. It is part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which was designated a World Heritage Site in 2023, alongside other Hopewell sites.