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My next stop brought me face to face with what, at first glance, appeared to be just a big pile of rocks. After climbing the three story observation tower and
reaching the last step, I walked over to the glassless window and peered down. From this lofty vantage point, the “big pile of rocks” was transformed into a giant bird of stone, perhaps
an eagle.
 Rock Eagle, as the structure is called, is located in Eatonton, Georgia. It is
over 102 feet high from head to tail and over 120 feet wide from wing tip to wing tip. It was built 2,000 years ago or about the time of Christ.
Arch Smith, director of the Rock
Eagle 4-H Center, informed me that archaeological investigations during the 50’s revealed cremated remains buried beneath the structure. This suggests that Native Americans built it
as a monument to a great leader after his death.
Rock Eagle is one of only two such effigy mounds to be found east of the
Mississippi River. The other mound, named Rock Hawk, is also located in Putnam County, the same Georgia county as Rock Eagle. Rock Hawk is is slightly larger than Rock Eagle.
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