In 1900, a series of strange misshapen skeletons were unearthed from similar mounds in nearby Alexandria, Indiana.
This brought thousands of tourists from around the Mid-West.
In 1910, several locals admitted to stealing chimpanzee skeletons from the nearby Muncie Zoo's monkey house.
In 1915 the skeletons were sold to a local museum which burned down in 1919.

What is now Mounds State Park was the location of an amusement park that operated from 1897 until 1929.
While the amusement park exploited the native-made mounds, it also helped to protect them by making them a "point of regional pride and a destination"; otherwise they might have been plundered or otherwise destroyed.
When the Great Depression hit, the property was sold to the Madison County Historical Society, which transferred ownership to the State of Indiana, after which it became Mounds State Park.

Canoeing is also available in Mounds State Park, on the White River.
In 1900, a series of strange misshapen skeletons were unearthed from similar mounds in nearby Alexandria, Indiana. This brought thousands of tourists from around the Mid-West. In 1910, several locals admitted to stealing chimpanzee skeletons from the nearby Muncie Zoo's monkey house. In 1915 the skeletons were sold to a local museum which burned down in 1919.
What is now Mounds State Park was the location of an amusement park that operated from 1897 until 1929. While the amusement park exploited the native-made mounds, it also helped to protect them by making them a "point of regional pride and a destination"; otherwise they might have been plundered or otherwise destroyed. When the Great Depression hit, the property was sold to the Madison County Historical Society, which transferred ownership to the State of Indiana, after which it became Mounds State Park.
Canoeing is also available in Mounds State Park, on the White River.
Mounds State Park