More than 3,700 artifacts were found in a 2024 state archaeological survey on less than 20 acres on the campus of the aging Moccasin Bend State Mental Health Institute complex.
State Archaeologist Phil Hodge said the survey shows even this small portion of land within the national archaeological district on Moccasin Bend contains artifacts of precontact, post-contact, the period when the Cherokee were marched across Moccasin Bend on the Trail of Tears, the Civil War and the 20th century.
In 2024, the state contracted with archaeological firm New South Associates to perform a limited survey of the 10 acres surrounding the Winston Building, a separate structure from the main hospital building, and another 9.6 acres around a connector road on the mental hospital’s state-owned campus, according to the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute Archaeological Resources Survey. The survey was performed to determine whether there was archaeological evidence of human habitation and how appropriate the Winston Building site would be for a proposed $276 million replacement hospital.
In September, armed with early results from the survey, Gov. Bill Lee announced there would be no new hospital construction on Moccasin Bend. Local conservationists and the Cherokee, who had voiced strong opposition to a new hospital on the Bend, celebrated the action.