The Johnson Cemetery site currently consists of a single mound and associated village but may have originally had a second mound. The existing mound was first described in the early twentieth century as about 14 feet tall and pyramidal in shape. Currently, the mound is 12 feet in height and its shape has suffered from erosion. Johnson Cemetery, an early twentieth century African American cemetery, is located on the mound's summit.
Professional archaeologists excavated a portion of the southern slope of the mound in 2013. They determined that it was built in stages by Native American people during the Late Mississippi Period, beginning around ca. AD 1300. Prior to the building of the mound, Native American people prepared the area underneath it by removing the topsoil to expose the fine levee sands. Then they conducted a series of activities that resulted in the deposition of multiple thin layers of ash, burned soil, and charcoal. These deposits contained many artifacts, including pottery and food remains such as maize. Immediately after these events took place, the first stages of mound building commenced. This evidence suggests that feasting or other community-wide eating events may have an important association with mound building at the site, a pattern that has been documented at other mound sites in the southeastern United States.
