Historic Visits at Hickory Hills Park
A group of Native American Indians known as the Woodland Indians once called this area home.Over 200 years ago they lived along the banks of the Squaw Creek. they shaped tools from chert, molded pottery from clay mixed with grit, hunted the abundant game and gathered food from the land. There is a large conical-shaped burial mound located toward the north end of the park. It is believed that when people of high status in the tribal unit died, their bodies were placed on ridge tops above the riverside campsites and large earthen mounds were constructed over them. While the bones have long since decayed, the mound still tells us that the spot was recognized as a sacred place many years ago.
In the early 1900’s, the area that is now the picnic grounds was then an active farmstead. The old wooden barn that housed the family’s livestock still stands and helps us explain the farming practices of yesteryear. There are three sections to the foundation of the home that once stood. One part was stone, another brick and yet another poured concrete telling us there were three additions to the house. There is also a root cellar that served as the family’s storm shelter and food storage area. Just west of the farmstead is the remnants of the old stagecoach road that once connected Osceola to Indianola. It angled right past the house and barn. The Warren County Conservation Board purchased Hickory Hills in December of 1976 and has maintained it ever since.
