Town Creek Indian Mound Visitor Center and Exhibits

Mt. Gilead, NC | WIP | 7,644 SF 

Town Creek Indian Mound is North Carolina’s only Historical Site devoted entirely to the American Indian. Located within the agricultural fabric of Montgomery County, the site is the epitome of an iterative approach - a site “discovered” by a farmer, gifted to the State, reconstructed for the sake of public education, and augmented to include a visitor center with exhibits and programs that were developed between 1961 and 1995. Now thirty years after the site’s last refresh, it is apparent the site facilities would benefit from revitalization, and that interpretation of the American Indian story presents meaningful opportunities for enrichment. The State has funded a significant project to address these shortcomings and bring the site back to the vanguard of state historical education facilities. The project is a complete reimagination of the TCIM visitor center experience. Building from the thoughtful provenance of the original 1961 building, the new project will create a looping journey though the landscape, new exhibits, and into the historic palisade grounds that is accessible, spoken from the perspective of the American Indian, and designed to make permanent the sacred story of Mississippian civilization on the site.