Nacoochee Indian Mound

The Nacoochee Indian Mound is a pre-Columbian burial mound in the Nacoochee Valley south of Helen, topped by an incongruous Victorian gazebo. The mound dates from the Mississippian period (roughly 1000–1550 CE) and was used by the Cherokee who occupied the valley when European settlers arrived in the 1800s.

It sits in a private pasture beside GA-75, visible from the road, with a historical marker. You cannot walk on the mound, but the historical marker and the view of it with the Blue Ridge behind explain its context. The Nacoochee Valley around it — a broad, flat valley with mountains on all sides — is one of the prettiest agricultural landscapes in Georgia.

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A story
The Nacoochee Mound was excavated in 1915 by scholars from Harvard and the Smithsonian, who found the remains of at least 75 individuals, pottery, and copper ornaments indicating a site of high importance — probably a ceremonial and mortuary mound of the Mississippian culture (1000–1550 CE). After excavation, the mound was levelled and a Victorian gazebo placed on top, which now sits incongruously on what looks like an ordinary earthen hill beside a highway.

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