Florence Indian Mound and Museum

Large pre-Columbian earthwork, the tallest mound on the Tennessee River

Address 1028 S Court St, Florence, AL 35630

The Florence Indian Mound rises 13 metres above the floodplain on the south bank of the Tennessee, immediately south of downtown Florence. Built in stages by Woodland-period peoples between AD 100 and 500, the truncated pyramid was used for ceremonial purposes and possibly as the foundation of a temple or chief's residence.

A short, modern museum at the base displays artefacts excavated from the mound and surrounding area — pottery, stone tools, and shell ornaments — along with displays on the Native American history of the Tennessee Valley. A steep stone staircase climbs to the flat summit, from which the river and the city open up.

things to do sight museum
A story
The mound was built between roughly AD 100 and 500 by people of the Woodland period. When 19th-century settlers reached the site, the mound was so out of scale with everything around it that early Florence residents debated whether to demolish it for clay; thankfully the city kept it intact, and it is now the largest surviving ceremonial mound on the Tennessee River.