Weird New York

The New York Rock Show
The Frost Valley Petroglyph

The Frost Valley area of the Catskill Mountain range has long been considered one of the most remote areas of New York. For most of the state’s history, the area was home to just a handful of farmers. Otherwise, it has remained largely undisturbed. This makes the presence of what has come to be known as the Frost Valley Petroglyph even more shocking to those who randomly stumble across it.

Perched along the north bank of the Neversink River within the town of Denning, the petroglyph is a boulder with a distinct spiral pattern carved into it. The petroglyph was first discovered in 1995, but it’s believed to have been carved between one and two hundred years ago. Though its true meaning and significance is not completely understood, it’s thought that it was carved for religious purposes by a Native American, decades before Europeans ever found their way into Frost Valley.

The North Salem Dolmen

North Salem is the home of a truly impressive structure, one with an origin shrouded in intrigue and mystery.

Located along a roadside in the quiet, tiny town of North Salem is a ninety-ton boulder balanced on five smaller stones that have been driven deep into the earth. Some guess that the stones came to be in their current formation simply through chance, having been shifted and placed there by glacial movements. Most people, though, recognize that the chance of this happening is indeed very slim. They theorize that Native Americans set the structure up centuries ago to serve as a worship point. This has lead to the site being referred to as the North Salem dolmen. Dolmens were stone structures found scattered throughout the prehistoric world, that are thought to have been used by ancient peoples as altars and markers of holy sites.

Balanced Rock

There is a dolmen, a huge boulder that is unbelievably balanced on smaller rocks, in North Salem, New York. It was reputably built by ancient sea-faring Celts who crossed over to the New World long before ol’ Chris was a sparkle in Mr. Columbus’ eye.

I must tell you some less enlightened scientists claim this is simply an erratic, left over from the glacial retreat of many thousands of years ago. To that I say poppycock! I have done years of research on this and have concluded that only humans could have created such a monument. Only ancient drunken Irish or Scots would have wanted to.

Do they mark the Solstice? Are they huge graves? Did someone have a big party there some 1,000 years ago and get carried away? Who knows? But, you can draw your own conclusions after you too see dolmen in North Salem. –Dr. Seymour O’Life

The World’s Largest Quartz

Photo by John Stoneman

Rock City, in Olean, NY bills itself as the “world’s largest exposure of quartz conglomerate.” This place is the home of huge rock formations that were created millions of years ago that look like pebbles in concrete.

You can find boulders with interesting names like “teepee and pulpit rock” and “fat man’s squeeze.” It has been a tourist attraction since 1890 and was always an adventure since there are no guardrails or barriers. There’s only a worn white line with a spray paint warning not to walk within six feet of the precarious ledge. –Brett Stern

You can read about all of New York’s Ancient Mysteries and Unexplained Phenomena in our book Weird New York.

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