Number of visitors way up at Ocmulgee National Monument

Visits to the Ocmulgee National Monument were up about 26 percent in 2015, making it the second largest visitation in the past 30 years, officials said Thursday.

There were 155,388 visitors to the park during the year, according to a news release from the park. Visitors came from all 50 states, plus 55 foreign countries.

International visitors came from all corners of the globe, covering every continent except Antarctica.

"I think there are several things that contributed to our good visitation numbers," Superintendent Jim David said. "The publicity surrounding the possible expansion encouraged local visitation, and the lower gas prices probably helped with both the local visitation and the nationwide numbers.

"A lot of foreign visitors are fascinated by American Indians. With Ocmulgee having 17,000 years of that history, we are often high on those visitors' list."

The monument was established to preserve the prehistoric Indian mounds and the history of the people who built them. Since its establishment in 1936, nearly 7.4 million people have visited the park.

A measure pending in Congress would expand the monument's existing boundaries from 702 to about 2,800 acres and provide additional protection for archeological resources. The legislation would create Georgia's first National Historical Park.

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Number of visitors way up at Ocmulgee National Monument ."