Vote for Cahokia Mounds! Only Three Days Left!

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is currently hosting a Community Challenge that will give the three historic sites with the most votes a cash prize.  Currently, Cahokia Mounds is ranked 13th and will require a big push during the last three days of voting to make it into the top three.

As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cahokia Mounds gives the St. Louis Area an extremely unique International attraction.  While visiting Berlin recently, I found many references to Museum Island‘s designation as a UNESCO site.  This is a source of great pride for the people of Berlin.  Unfortunately, I don’t think that most St. Louisans appreciate the significance of Cahokia Mounds and are unaware of its status as a World Heritage Site (nobody in my family knew that we had a UNESCO site in St. Louis when I mentioned it in Berlin).  This is our chance to both contribute to Cahokia Mounds, and to help spread the appreciation of our history that the United Nations recognizes while many locals fail to.

If the flying saucer on Grand is worth fighting for, Cahokia Mounds certainly is too.

Click on the image above to register, and cast your vote for Cahokia Mounds.

East Side Mounds

This weekend a buddy of mine from Edwardsville commented to me about the view of mounds along Highway 55/70 approaching St. Louis.  The first mound that draws the eye while heading westbound is Monk’s Mound of Cahokia mounds.  This is arguably the most significant archaeological site in the United States.  Soon after passing this mound however, drivers encounter an even more massive mound, the Milam Landfill.  As I was listening to this account I found a couple of similar reflections on this juxtaposition that are very interesting: a blog entry from Trailer Courier and a story from NPR.  I set out the next day to view this for myself and found that the smell from the landfill was almost more prominent than its massive presence.  Because of this smell I drove directly to Monk’s Mound and ended up enjoying a very pleasant climb and view.

Downtown and the Landfill from Monk's Mound

I chose a foggy afternoon which did not make for the best photo, but towards the right of the shot you can get a decent idea of how large this landmark to our wasteful lifestyle is (from several miles away).