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Details40 wooden platforms painted and embellished with ribbons and tile, sound

Curator Risa Puleo

Address 4420 Ohio Ave
St. Louis, MO

Site Description

Sugarloaf Mound is the oldest human-made structure in St. Louis and the last intact Native American mound in what was once known as “Mound City.” Located on the south St. Louis riverfront, Sugarloaf is thought to be a Woodland period burial mound or a Mississippian platform mound.

As the center of the Mississippian peoples in the Mississippi River valley, Cahokia formed the largest city in the present-day United States, rivaling London at its height before its sudden and still unexplained collapse. The most evident mark of this advanced society is in the earthen mounds that reshaped the terrains of the region, from the largest earthwork in the Americas at Monks Mound in Illinois through the prominent twinned mounds on the St. Louis riverfront in Big Mound to Sugarloaf Mound and the hundreds of other mounds that were spread throughout the region. In the city of St. Louis, of these, only Sugarloaf Mound remains in public view, a sacred site for the Osage People and the last opportunity to preserve this history in the City of St. Louis.

The summit of the mound was purchased by the Osage Nation in 2009. For the 2023 exhibition, Counterpublic will present artwork adjacent to the site, and is partnering with the Osage to support preservation and spread public awareness of the mound, and is engaged in an effort to purchase or transfer the remaining two homes still occupying the mound to the Osage Nation in line with their preservation plan.

For more information about Sugarloaf Mound, and our efforts to support the Osage Nation’s efforts to preserve the mound, please visit their website here.