|
|
                 |
|
 |
|
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=12&Z=18&X=464&Y=5812&W=1 |
Physical Features
Spanish Hill's shape has been referred to over the years as the shape of a sugarloaf - in that it rises some two hundred feet and it has very steep sides and a flat top of around ten acres. There are also "rolling hills" to the north, which can be seen on the map to the right.
Note that the Chemung River is to the west of the hill. This west branch joins the Susquehanna only three or so miles south from this point. The Susquehanna then runs south to the Chesapeake Bay.
Louise Welles Murray may have said it best as she described the hill nearly 100 years ago:
"Of many points of historic interest in our valley, perhaps none has attracted more attention or roused more speculation, from the earliest times to the present, than the mound called Spanish Hill. This prominence is due not only to its unusual position (isolated from the hill ranges and regions), but also to its odd outline, the remains of fortifications on the top, and its present name." - ~Louise Welles Murray -"History of Old Tioga Point and Early Athens -"1908.
.
It is strange for people who pass by it today to understand that at one time there were very few or no trees on the hill, This initially was most likely due to the common Susquehannock and Iroquois way of clearing an area for a village site of "slash and burn" - hacking down trees and burning out the stumps. But as the years have rolled by, many young trees have grown up and around it.
Point at the aerial photo below to see where Spanish Hill is!
Notice "Onnontioga" (Tioga Point) where the Susquehanna and the Chemung join!
Here is an aerial view -
The Chemung River is just to the left (west of this shot) and Spanish Hill is just about the whole left side of this photo...remember, it has 10 acres of flat land on the top on the south end, but there are rolling hills at the north end - - and if you look closely, you can see that "oval-like" shape that shows the border of the top.
Here is General Clark's survey from 1878 of the flat area of ten acres and where the fortifications once were...Funny - you can still even see where the farm road went off from the northeast edge...It seems to me that his drawing is quite accurate...
STILL A SKEPTIC?
Move your mouse pointer onto the picture below for a few seconds:
For those that question the existence of fortifications atop of Spanish Hill...go to this page to learn more.
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.