Address Restricted, Franklin, North Carolina. County/parish: Macon.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places November 26, 1980. NRIS 80004598.
1 contributing site.Also known as:
Nikwasi (Cherokee: ꮒꮖꮟ, romanized: Niquasi or Neequasee) which translates to "Star Place". Nikwasi is the site of the Cherokee town which is first found in colonial records in the early 18th century, but is much older. The town covered about 100 acres (40 ha) on the floodplain of the Little Tennessee River. Franklin, North Carolina, was later developed by European Americans around this site.
Today, a platform mound, estimated to have been built about 1000 CE, is the only extant feature left of the Cherokee town. The mound site and a small area has been owned and preserved by Franklin since 1946. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as "Nequasee."
The federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee, which is based at Qualla Boundary, has been working to re-acquire its traditional lands and sacred mounds in this region. In 2019 the town of Franklin transferred the deed for Nikwasi mound to the Nikwasi Initiative, a non-profit set up by the EBCI, as part of this effort.
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