Sugar Loaf Mound for Sale

Mound City's only remaining prehistoric mound is now for sale. Sugar Loaf Mound, a burial mound older than 1,000 years, is located on the side of the Mississippi River aside I-55 near the South Broadway exit. Readers probably know the visible small white house on the hill at that location. The hill is only the most obvious part of the mound, which is larger than it appears. The house and the mound are now listed for $400,000. Realtor Leigh Maibes of Circa Properties has started a blog on the mound, its history and the sale. Check out the blog, Sugar Loaf Mound Saint Louis. The curious can also visit the site this weekend at an open house:

The Sugar Loaf Mound House will be open this Sunday November 9, 2008 from 1-4 pm. Please feel free to stop by even if you are just a curiosity seeker. I will be on hand to answer any questions that you may have about the property and house. Please park on the side of the road opposite from the house if at all possible. Hopefully, it will be a lovely day and we will have tons of fun.

The house is located at 4420 Ohio St. Saint Louis, MO 63111 near highway 55 and Broadway. Please feel free to post questions here!

The sale raises the issue of stewardship. For over 50 years, the mound has been owned by the family that lives in the house. The family has left the mound alone, preserving what is left. Now that the family is selling the property, there is the opportunity for a preservation plan for the city's most historic structure. Tourists love the "very old" Old Courthouse and Old Cathedral, and Cahokia Mounds in Illinois has the prestige of being a United Nations World Heritage Site. Imagine the potential for Sugar Loaf Mound as a protected public site with a solid interpretive center. Mound City could have the chance to celebrate its ancient roots, and take pride in a landmark unlike any other in the city.