This is a portion of a scanned highway map of Warren County, in southwestern Ohio.
My dad once told me a story about seeing a Warren County map back in the 1950s or 1960s that labeled a large glacial erratic boulder near Lebanon, Ohio as a meteorite. I accepted what he said, but was always interested in verifying it.
The site is near modern Interstate-71, southeast of Lebanon, Ohio. The boulder is behind an old one-room school called "Rock School House".
See: www.flickr.com/photos/cincystevenson/3383428875
See: www.flickr.com/photos/cincystevenson/2543427435
To find out if such a map was available, I contacted the Warren County engineer's department, which is part of the county government. I was surprised and pleased to find out that they knew exactly what I was talking about and provided a ready-made scan of the map. The title of the old map is "Warren County Highway Map 1958".
In reality, the large boulder is gneiss, a high-grade metamorphic rock. It was transported from Canada to Ohio by glaciers during the Pleistocene Ice Age.
Tags: glacial erratic erratics Rock School House Lebanon Warren County Ohio 1958 highway map maps
(photo by Lee St. John)
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This is a glacial erratic near Lebanon in southwestern Ohio. Glacial erratics are isolated boulders left behind by melting glaciers. The rock originates from a Precambrian outcrop in Canada and was transported to Ohio during the Pleistocene Ice Age. It is heavily stained by weathering, but foliation is still visible, as are alternating bands of light and dark minerals. These are the physical characteristics of gneiss, a common, high-grade metamorphic rock.
Interestingly, this rock has been misidentified as a meteorite at times in the past. A 1958 highway map of Warren County, Ohio actually labels it as a "Large Meteor"!! I acquired a digital image of that old map (see the previous picture in this photo album or photostream).
Locality: large boulder behind Rock School House, western side of Route 123, just north of Interstate 71, southeast of the town of Lebanon, central Warren County, southwestern Ohio, USA (39° 24' 58.86" North latitude, 84° 09' 26.27" West longitude)
Tags: glacial erratic erratics Rock School House Lebanon Warren County Ohio 1958 highway map maps
This is a glacial erratic at the town of Claridon in north-central Ohio. Glacial erratics are isolated boulders left behind by melting glaciers. Ohio has many glacial erratics that were transported from the North during the Pleistocene Ice Age. The lithology is conglomerate. At times, this rock has been mis-referred to as a meteorite (it's not - it's a "meteor-wrong").
Provenance: supposedly transported to this site from east of the Olentangy River, east of the town of Claridon, Ohio
Locality: Aye Monument - large boulder at Claridon Cemetery, eastern side of the town of Claridon, eastern Marion County, north-central Ohio, USA (40° 34' 56.54" North latitude, 82° 59' 32.54" West longitude)
Tags: glacial erratic erratics boulder conglomerate Pleistocene Ice Age Claridon Cemetery Marion County Ohio meteor meteorite meteorites meteors meteor-wrong
This is a glacial erratic at the town of Claridon in north-central Ohio. Glacial erratics are isolated boulders left behind by melting glaciers. Ohio has many glacial erratics that were transported from the North during the Pleistocene Ice Age. The lithology is conglomerate. At times, this rock has been mis-referred to as a meteorite (it's not - it's a "meteor-wrong").
Provenance: supposedly transported to this site from east of the Olentangy River, east of the town of Claridon, Ohio
Locality: Aye Monument - large boulder at Claridon Cemetery, eastern side of the town of Claridon, eastern Marion County, north-central Ohio, USA (40° 34' 56.54" North latitude, 82° 59' 32.54" West longitude)
Tags: glacial erratic erratics boulder conglomerate Pleistocene Ice Age Claridon Cemetery Marion County Ohio meteor meteorite meteorites meteors meteor-wrong
This is a glacial erratic at the town of Claridon in north-central Ohio. Glacial erratics are isolated boulders left behind by melting glaciers. Ohio has many glacial erratics that were transported from the North during the Pleistocene Ice Age. The lithology is conglomerate. At times, this rock has been mis-referred to as a meteorite (it's not - it's a "meteor-wrong").
Provenance: supposedly transported to this site from east of the Olentangy River, east of the town of Claridon, Ohio
Locality: Aye Monument - large boulder at Claridon Cemetery, eastern side of the town of Claridon, eastern Marion County, north-central Ohio, USA (40° 34' 56.54" North latitude, 82° 59' 32.54" West longitude)
Tags: glacial erratic erratics boulder conglomerate Pleistocene Ice Age Claridon Cemetery Marion County Ohio meteor meteorite meteorites meteors meteor-wrong