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Could several Ohio landmarks be ranked alongside Stonehenge in England, the Acropolis in Athens and the Grand Canyon? The Department of Interior announced in January 2008 that our state is now one step closer to achieving world-class eminence as three Ohio nominations made its final tentative list of 14 U.S. cultural and natural areas to be considered for the World Heritage List. The World Heritage List, which is maintained by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), recognizes natural and cultural sites of significance to all peoples of the world.
Ohio Nominations Included on U.S. World Heritage List
The 3 Ohio nominations currently on the tentative list, the most for any state, represent 12 historic and prehistoric sites, including four that are managed by the Ohio Historical Society:
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, a multi-site nomination consisting of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park’s five ancient earthworks in Ross County, including the Ohio Historical Society’s Seip Mound, as well as the Society’s Newark Earthworks in Licking County and Fort Ancient in Warren County. The extraordinarily large earthworks are outstanding examples of an architectural form and landscape design which illustrate 700 years of the Ohio Hopewell culture.
Serpent Mound in Adams County, a state memorial administered by the Ohio Historical Society, is probably the best known archeological site in Ohio and features the earthen effigy of a snake.
Dayton Aviation Sites, a multi-site nomination associated with the Wright Brothers and development of the airplane is comprised of Huffman Prairie Flying Field at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, The Wright Cycle Company and Wright and Wright Printing Company building, the Wright Flyer III enshrined in Wright Hall at Carillon Historical Park, and the Wright family home, Hawthorn Hill, in Dayton. The first three components are part of Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park System, although Huffman Prairie is owned by the U.S. Air Force and Wright Hall by Dayton History. Hawthorn Hill is owned by the Wright Family Foundation.
This was the first time since 1982 that the Department of the Interior has prepared a list of U.S. cultural and natural areas for consideration by UNESCO. The preparation of a tentative list is a necessary first step in the process of nominating a site to the World Heritage List because a country cannot nominate a property unless it has been on its tentative list for a minimum of a year. Being nominated for or included on the World Heritage List imposes no legal restrictions on owners or neighbors of sites nor does it give the United Nations any management authority or ownership rights in U.S. World Heritage Sites, which continue to be subject to U.S. law.
The tentative list developed by the Department of the Interior will serve as the source of nominations as the United States submits two sites every year for consideration by UNESCO between 2009 and 2018. If World Heritage status is granted, the nomination will join the 851 World Heritage sites in 141 counties, including the 20 sites in the United States—none of which are from Ohio.
Additional Information
The Ohio Historical Society will continue to post information about the nominated Ohio landmarks during the World Heritage process.
For more information about the World Heritage process, read our FAQ sheet.
About the Sites
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks: (Links will load in new browser windows).
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