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Fort Hill is a 5-acre prehistoric archeological site
located off State Route 705 near the Evansdale campus of WVU. The site
includes what appears to be a Village. It is in a good state of preservation
and one human burial, animal bones, bone beads, a marginella shell bead,
shell tempered pottery and triangular arrow points have been recovered to
date. Fort Hill is included in a parcel of land that was donated to West
Virginia University several years ago by the late Sylvia Straight. Wal-Mart
originally considered developing the site, and planned on donating three
acres, including the village, to the Archeological Conservancy. After
Wal-Mart decided not to build there, the WVU Foundation sold the highly
desirable parcel without restrictions to the CMC Company at a cost of
$1,550,000. The company has promised to avoid the village site, while the
rest of the 45-acre property would be mixed-use with retail and commercial
space, such as a strip mall, a hotel, a nursing home and fast food
restaurants, with limited housing. Critics claim the property owners have
not kept their promise to protect the village site against future
development.
Copyright © 2005 Preservation Alliance of
West Virginia
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