Stearns in McCreary County, Kentucky — The American South (East South Central)

Sandstone Tree Stump

Photographed by Tom Bosse, September 15, 2023

1. Sandstone Tree Stump Marker

Inscription. In 1989 a surface-mining company in Tennessee unearthed this stump buried 30 feet underground. The two-ton stump measures 15 feet in circumference and almost 6 feet in diameter. Geologists from the University of Kentucky indicate this is not a petrified stump but a sandstone replacement of a tree that was growing 300 to 315 million years ago. The tree rotted or dissolved and was replaced with sandstone rather than petrified agate-like material found in the Petrified Forests of the US. Billy J. Kidd of McCreary County, an employee of the surface-mining company, brought the stump to the McCreary County Museum and a crane was used to place this unusual specimen in its present location.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Paleontology. In addition, it is included in the Historic Trees series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1989.

Location. 36° 41.955′ N, 84° 28.621′ W. Marker is in Stearns, Kentucky, in McCreary County. It is at the intersection of Henderson Street and Golf Course Road, on the left when traveling east on Henderson Street. Marker is located in front of the McCreary County Museum. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Stearns KY 42647, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Eastern Kentucky, in the Lake Cumberland Region,

and in the Cumberland Plateau.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture

and also the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 12 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Historic Stearns Kentucky (here, next to this marker);

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Stearns Coal & Lumber Company (within shouting distance of this marker); Princess Cornblossom (approx. 0.2 miles away); First Kentucky Oil Well / Martin Beaty (Beatty) (approx. 1.9 miles away); McCreary County, 1912 (approx. 1.9 miles away); Edward "Eddie" Ward (approx. 3.3 miles away); Tennessee / Kentucky (approx. 7½ miles away in Tennessee); Big Bend Loop (approx. 12 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Stearns.

Another marker is no longer nearby. 4-H Craft Center (was approx. 11.9 miles away but has been confirmed missing).

Photographed by Tom Bosse, September 15, 2023

2. Sandstone Tree Stump Marker

Photographed by Tom Bosse, September 15, 2023

3. Sandstone Tree Stump Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on September 21, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 20, 2023, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 283 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 20, 2023, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.