Selling a Native American Mound
For Sale: Cozy home with two bedrooms, two baths, one fireplace and a 2-car garage. Oh yeah, it sits on the very last Native American mound in a city once known as “Mound City.” It even has a name, Sugar Loaf Mound.
Sugar Loaf Mound at 4420 Ohio St.
This most unique property is listed by my South Side Tower co-agent, Leigh Maibes. Our office gets some pretty interesting listings but the only remaining Native American mound in St Louis has to top them all. Like many of you I’ve seen this property for years, it is highly visible from I-55. Conversely, the highway is in your front yard. But the Mississippi River is out the back door – just watch that one step as it is a long way down the cliff.
The mound, not the house on it, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Of course, being listed on the National Register doesn’t prevent it’s destruction (just ask the remains of the Century Building).
St Louis used to have many such mounds, only one remains.
I’ve not visited the house except for taking the above picture from the driveway, I didn’t want to bother with the stairs. Photos reveal stunning river views. Industrial zoning and highway adjacency reveal a major threat to the future of the mound.
As listing agents for property, our job is to get our clients the best price possible. That is not marketing hype, that is our fiduciary duty . So while some of us look at this mound and marvel that it has existed for hundreds of years, others see a place for a quick-mart. Ugh.
The current owners, whom I’ve not met, have been good stewards of the property for half a century. It is time for someone else to assume that role.
Throughout the development of the city and larger region the landscape as it existed 300 years ago has been significantly altered. Old North St Louis used to have several mounds but these were destroyed as the city grew in the 19th Century. Our city would be very different if all these features were regarded as sacred. But that didn’t happen. We have one last chance to save a piece of history.
Further Reading:
- Landmarks Association of St Louis
- Ecology of Absence
- Suburban Journals
- Sugar Loaf Mound, the website & blog.
- Circa Properties & Leigh Maibes.
The list price of the property is $400,000.
