A Brief History Of the Mississippi Petrified Forest

Deposited by a raging river 36 million years ago these logs lay hidden until settlers moved into the area and searched for land to farm. Since the area the logs are in is sandy, after years of farming and erosion the soil washed away revealing the hidden logs. This is documented in a letter from Benjamin L.C. Wailes in 1854. As time went by more and more people visited the area and word spread of a Petrified Forest.

Eighty-three years after Wailes' letter, National Geographic wrote an article in the September 1937 issue. The current owners, the Schabilions first visited in 1956 and were fascinated with what they saw. They knew they had to preserve this treasure for all to see. After much discussion and time they finally were able to purchase the forest.

Logs from the forest have been featured in the Smithsonian and even displayed by the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia in 1976. The Petrified Forest is now a Registered National Landmark.