Petrified Wood

Petrified Wood. . Petrified wood is actually a fossil. and these are estimated to be 20-30 million years old. , The petrification process can take very little time under the right circumstances but the longer the process is given, the harder the rocks will be. It is also believed that conifer trees petrify taster than deciduous trees. , Much of the petrified wood you see in this park was collected within 8 miles of the city of Lemmon. It is estimated that 1100 tons or petrified wood and 100 tons of petrified grass were collected to construct the park. , Nowhere else in the world is the concentration of petrified wood so dense as it is surrounding Lemmon. , Ole Quammen's vision for the Petrified Wood Park became a reality in 1930 and construction started at the onset of the Great Depression, providing jobs and financial support to over 30 men who would have otherwise been unemployed. These men earned $1.00/day which would be equivalent to about $17.75 today. A majority of the park was completed and dedicated in the summer of 1932. , The grand dedication ceremony was attended by 10,000 people from all over the state , Four steers were butchered and barbecued along with hundreds of gallons of coffee were prepared to feed the huge crowd. , Ole Quammen continued working on the park and expanding on his overall vision for the space when he died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1934. The park's future was questioned at many points but in 1954, Quammen's daughter, Alice Olson, turned over the property to the City of Lemmon