Ancient mound a short walk from modern softball fields in Oxford

Mound at Choccolocco Park.

Crystal and I followed Excel High School’s softball team to Oxford last week to watch Harper and the rest of the girls play in the state softball tournament. The tournament was played at Choccolocco Park, which covers more than 300 acres and is home to some of the finest softball and baseball facilities in the state. Prior to last week, I’d never been to this park, but I’ve wanted to see it in person for years.

In addition to the athletic facilities, this park sits on an ancient Indian village site that dates back thousands of years. Sources say that there is evidence that shows that Indians lived on this land as far back as 12,000 years ago. To put that into perspective, that means there were Indians living where Choccolocco Park is now about 5,300 years before the first pyramids were built in Egypt.

If you go to the park today, aside from the sports fields, you’ll see that one of the park’s most prominent features is a large Indian mound that once served as the focal point of a regionally important ritual center. Sources say that before the 1830s this site served as ceremonial grounds for the Abihka Indians and was one of the most ancient tribal towns in the Creek Nation. The mound at Choccolocco Park is also one of about a dozen mounds throughout the state that are listed on the Alabama Indigenous Mound Trail.

Between Harper’s two games last Thursday, Crystal and I took advantage of the break and walked over to the mound to see it up close. The mound, with its well-manicured grounds, is an impressive site and is similar to the large mounds you will see at Moundville in Hale County. Sources say that this mound is one of three that were once located on the property.

A short walk from this large earthen mound is a smaller stone mound. Sources say that this mound once sat on nearby Signal Mountain and that it represents “burden” stones carried by Indians in remembrance of relatives who were killed in a “great flood.” Archaeologists who have studied the site believe that people who lived at the site in prehistoric times experienced several significant flood events and sometimes caused large sinkholes.

Some readers might be interested to learn that Choccolocco is an old Indian word made up from the words “Chahko” and “lago.” Chahko means “shoals” and lago means “big.” This word lends its name to Choccolocco Creek, which runs just north of the park, a short walk from the large mound described above. The infamous “Hell’s Gate Bridge,” said to be the most haunted bridge in Alabama, sits across this creek, not far from the large mound. But that is a story for another day.

In the end, if you ever find yourself in the northeastern Alabama city of Oxford, take a few minutes and visit Choccolocco Park. If you enjoy learning about Alabama’s ancient history and seeing ancient sites in person, it’s hard to beat Choccolocco Park. Located a short distance off Interstate Highway 20, you’ll find the quick trip well worth a few minutes of your time.