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All the United States Pennsylvania Upper Black Eddy The Sonorous Stones of Ringing Rocks Park

The Sonorous Stones of Ringing Rocks Park

Mysterious rocks that ring musically when struck.

Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania

Added By
Dylan Thuras
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  Oician / Atlas Obscura User
Rock field   5qmbcxnkwy / Atlas Obscura User
One of the more musical rocks   jyackabonis / Atlas Obscura User
  Jane Weinhardt Goldberg / Atlas Obscura User
Recording the sounds of these mysterious rocks!   trexbeverly / Atlas Obscura User
Fun for all   Jane Weinhardt Goldberg / Atlas Obscura User
Hammer marks   Jane Weinhardt Goldberg / Atlas Obscura User
Spring day at the rocks   jyackabonis / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In 1890, J.J. Ott gave a remarkable concert for the Buckwampum Historical Society. What made the concert remarkable wasn’t the music being played but the instrument Ott was playing. The instrument was made of stones that made “clear, bell-like tones” when struck by a hammer. You might say it was the first rock concert.

Ott procured the musical rocks from a nearby boulder field in Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania. Known today as Ringing Rocks Park, the rock field occupies 7 acres of an otherwise wooded area, and is over 10 feet deep with boulders.

Only about a third of the rocks ring, and for a long time why the rocks rang at all was unclear. However, in 1965 a group of scientists crushed, broke, and sliced the rocks. After performing numerous tests, they found that while all the rocks do in fact ring, they often do so at tones lower than the human ear can perceive. Furthermore, the exact mechanism by which they ring still remains elusive. (It may have to do with the freeze-thaw cycle that helped create the boulder field in the first place.)

You can listen to the sounds of these mysterious rocks below.

Though many are tempted to illegally pocket a ringing rock for later use, it is futile, as the rocks lose their musical ability once taken away from the other stones.

Related Tags

Geological Oddities Music Sounds Natural Wonders Geology Nature

Know Before You Go

As the website says, bring your own hammer!

Community Contributors

Added By

Dylan

Edited By

Leslie McIntyre, zapman1, trexbeverly, dlc31723...

  • Leslie McIntyre
  • zapman1
  • trexbeverly
  • dlc31723
  • Jane Weinhardt Goldberg
  • jyackabonis
  • 5qmbcxnkwy
  • Oician

Published

May 29, 2010

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  • https://thomasrexbeverly.com/products/ringing-rocks-musical-rock-sound-effects-library
The Sonorous Stones of Ringing Rocks Park
Ringing Rocks Road
Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania, 18972
United States
40.562473, -75.134251
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