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Man-Made? When many local historians first considered how the hill was created, many supposed that this was a man-made mound. But, as it was investigated more thoroughly, it was revealed to be a glacial mound. That is - as the glaciers receded from this area, boulders, silt, mud, and rock were dragged and dropped in our valley. Now there are a couple of theories on how Spanish Hill was created because of this, but it is accepted that given whatever the process, Spanish Hill is made up of glacial deposits, and was not man-made.
The most accepted theory is that the height of the land in this area was the height of Spanish Hill at one time long ago. And with the great flooding and receding of the glaciers, the area around the hill loosened and was washed away. This left an "island" in the great flooding, but when the water receded, left this great rise of land with the flat top, which we now call Spanish Hill. Click here to see a visual of this.
It is said that when they put in the highways that they were going to remove the hill and use the soil to build up for the highways...But Ellsworth Cowles went to Harrisburg to save the hill. In the end, only the east side was "cut" to make way for Rte. 220. But in doing this, it revealed the makeup of the hill. This finally ended all questions of whether or not is was man-made. (If anyone has any of those photos - I would really love to have some to post to this website.)
All About the Cultures that Built Mounds in Our Region
Please use the following links to learn more about what we know about the hill today: Spanish Hill is currently private property - no trespassing is advised. |
