Pony Creek Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Pony Creek Park
|
|
Excavation of the Davis Oriole Lodge (undated National Park Service photo)
|
|
 Location in Iowa
Location in the United States
|
|
| Nearest city | Glenwood, Iowa |
|---|---|
| Area | 53 acres (21 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 71000299 |
| Added to NRHP | July 30, 1971 |
Pony Creek Park is a fun park located in Mills County, Iowa, in the United States. It's found northwest of Glenwood, Iowa. The park is built around the beautiful Pony Creek Lake, which is about 83 acres big.
At Pony Creek Park, you can enjoy many outdoor activities. People love to go boating, have picnics, and fish in the lake. The park also has lovely woods, a special area for camping, and untouched prairie lands. You can even see unique hills made of fine soil, called loess hills, which are very interesting.
The park covers about 53 acres of land. It is managed by Mills County, making sure everyone can enjoy it. In 1971, Pony Creek Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This was because it held important secrets from the past. It was known to have at least two ancient Native American homes, called earthen lodges. These lodges were special because they were on public land, meaning they could be protected for a long time.
Discovering the Davis Oriole Earthlodge
One of the most important discoveries at Pony Creek Park is the Davis Oriole Earthlodge Site. This site was named a National Historic Landmark in 2012. It is one of the best-preserved lodges of its kind ever found.
An amateur archaeologist named D.D. Davis first found this lodge in 1991. However, due to some mapping mistakes, its exact location was lost for a while. It wasn't until 2008 that the lodge was found again. Surprisingly, it was right under one of the park's main walking trails!
What the Earthlodge Looks Like
The Davis Oriole Earthlodge is quite large, measuring about 40 feet by 26 feet. Its top surface is buried deep, between 35 and 50 inches below the ground today. In 2009, experts carefully dug up a small part of the lodge. This was done to make sure it was still in good condition.
During this careful digging, they learned a lot about how the lodge was built. They also found pieces of pottery that the people who lived there used. It seems that when the people left the lodge, it was burned. This caused its roof to fall in and its walls to become charred.
