Taylor Lake Mound
This mound, also called Catfish Mound, is located on the road QQ just southwest of Waupaca. There used to be 48 recorded mounds
along the shore of Taylor Lake, comprising 3 separate groups which were later lumped together. Therefore you can encounter names
like Mound Grove Group, Highway Mounds or Xerxes Hill site, all pertaining to the same group. I'm not sure if any mounds other than
Catfish are extant.
To get to the mound, find the spot on the map or your GPS where the road almost touches Taylor Lake, and search for the mound
looking toward the lake - it's going to be between the sidewalk and the private properties right behind the mound. It's really a tight
spot with parking prohibited on the road and no public parking anywhere in sight, but if you manage to find where to park in nearby communities, you can walk back to the mound on the sidewalk and rest on the bench just in front of the effigy. It's not clear if it's on
private property, so tread lightly.
The mound is what remains of the figure resembling catfish (but I don't know whether it was originally some other effigy), having
previously stretched 250 feet long and 30 feet wide, and 15 feet between the "horns" or catfish "whiskers". Part of it was destroyed
by cultivation and development, though, but what was saved is neatly marked by the Monday Night Club monument. Number of trees
grow on the mound, unfortunately, and it gets mowed periodically.
You can find more information on Waupaca's Chain O' Lakes and the region's mounds at:
