U.S. Interior Department Submits Hopewell Culture National Historical Park For World Heritage List

Presented By Scioto Valley Dumpsters

(Chillicothe) – The U.S. Department of the Interior has officially announced that it has submitted the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks World Heritage nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee on behalf of the United States of America.

“A 15+ year collaboration among Ohio History Connection, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, federally recognized Tribal Nations with historic ties to Ohio, and a robust team of avid supporters has brought this dream to fruition!”

From the official announcement: “This constitutes the official notice of the decision by the United States Department of the Interior to submit a nomination to the World Heritage List for the “Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks”…The nomination was submitted through the U.S. Department of State to the World Heritage Centre of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for consideration by the World Heritage Committee, which will likely occur at the Committee’s 46th annual session in mid-2023.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE LOCAL EFFORT FOR WORLD HERITAGE LIST STATUS:

Ross County Commissioner Dwight Garrett told Litter Media “After 14 years of working toward the World Heritage Designation, if all goes as expected the Inscription will occur in the summer of 2023.  Many hurdles needed to be cleared before the nomination could move forward.  Ty McBee and Melody Young, here in Ross County, have been very instrumental in moving this project to completion.”

Garrett also pointed to the work by Jennifer Aultman from the Ohio History Connection citing together, they’ve been “the engine moving this process along.  She has tirelessly  worked on assembling  a dossier which was submitted to the State Department in January of this year.  The dossier was transported to the World Heritage Centre in Paris the first of February.”

In an interview with Litter Media, Melody Young, Executive Director of the Ross-Chillicothe Convention and Visitors Bureau says the biggest question now is, are we ready?

“I feel like we’re on a time crunch of everything we have to do to get ready for this nomination” said Young. The process began in 2008 and much has already been done, but the years of anticipation for consideration by the World Heritage Centre has now been met by the reality of the biggest hurdle being crossed.

Young says the Chillicothe site is comparable to Cahokia, Illinois which was registered in 1987. Their annual tourism averages 265,000 visitors from around the world compared to the 40,000 it drew in the late ’80s.