NEWS RELEASE: 1/31/2012
Crater of Diamonds State Park Celebrates 40 Years
* * * * * * Zoie Clift, travel writer
Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism
North America’s largest diamond and more than 75,000 other diamonds have been found in a field southeast of Murfreesboro since farmer John Huddleston discovered the first gems in the field in 1906. Since 1972, the site has been preserved as Crater of Diamonds State Park.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the park.
Park Superintendent Justin Dorsey says special programs will be held on March 15th, the anniversary date of the park’s creation. “We’ll be doing programs on the history of the park and how it has changed over the past 40 years,” he said. “Because the anniversary falls on a Thursday, we’ll continue the special programming over the weekend and through the next week, which is Spring Break.”
Many are surprised to learn there is a place in Arkansas where one can go and dig for diamonds. The park, the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public, is located above an eroded volcanic pipe. For a small fee, visitors can dig for diamonds and other gemstones and keep what they find.
The search area at the park is a 37 1/2 acre plowed field on the eroded surface of the eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world (in surface area). More than 500 diamonds were found at the park last year.
“It was a record year for large diamonds,” said Dorsey. “We registered 30 diamonds over one carat.” He added that two of them, the 8.66 ct Illusion Diamond (3rd) and the 6.67 ct Teamwork Diamond (9th), are among the ten top diamond finds at the park in the past 40 years. “I hope to see this trend continue into 2012,” he said. “We are also nearing the milestone 30,000th diamond mark (as of January 20, the mark was at 29,933). I expect it to be found this year.”
What sets Crater diamonds apart are color (the vast majority of diamonds found here are white, brown and yellow), luster (many look like small pieces of metal) and shape (if not broken they are usually very smooth and well rounded). The largest diamond discovered by visitors since the site became an Arkansas state park was the 16.37-carat Amarillo Starlight found in 1975.
It is stories like these that park interpreters enjoy sharing. “Every day we meet people who have just learned about our park,” said Waymon Cox, who has worked as a park interpreter at Crater of Diamonds for four years. “They don’t realize the state park has been here for 40 years now, and they haven’t heard of the many fascinating discoveries folks just like them have made over the years. It’s always a lot of fun to share some of the park’s best stories with someone new.”
March also marks the start of a new program series at the park called Visit with an Expert Miner. The program (scheduled for March 14, 24, June 2, and October 6) offers visitors a chance to meet the park’s regular diamond prospectors.
The idea started after a similar scenario was filmed as part of a reality show demo this past summer. “People really enjoyed the opportunity to hear from some of the ‘regulars’ that search here almost every day,” said Dorsey. “They have a chance to interact and ask questions that only they can answer. The miners are equally excited to share their story with hopeful visitors.”
More than 106,000 visitors came through the park last year. “My favorite aspect of this job is the visitors,” said Cox. “Every time I do a demonstration, I ask where people are visiting from. It’s fascinating to hear all the different states people name off. I also love pointing out the social aspect of this park. While searching for diamonds, visitors will often talk to each other and make connections with people from all over the country. Not only might someone from Michigan be working right next to someone from California, but as they talk they often find they either know the same person or once lived in the same area. It’s a visitor experience not often found at other parks.”
Dorsey said he is honored to be a part of the park staff that will be celebrating this landmark year. “Over the past 40 years we have had a number of special people work here, and the current staff and I continue that legacy,” he said. “We realize this park will be here for visitors to enjoy for many more years after we are all gone. And as we celebrate how far we’ve come, we remember that we are charged with ensuring future generations the same experience.”
Crater of Diamonds State Park is located two miles southeast of downtown Murfreesboro. For more information contact Justin Dorsey, park superintendent, Crater of Diamonds State Park, at 870-285-3113, or email him at justin.dorsey@arkansas.gov. Crater of Diamonds State Park is located at 209 State Park Road in Murfreesboro.
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Submitted by the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism
One Capitol Mall, Little Rock, AR 72201, 501-682-7606
E-mail: info@arkansas.com
May be used without permission. Credit line is appreciated:
"Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism"
NEWS RELEASE: 1/25/2012
Who will find the 30,000th diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park?
Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro is set to celebrate two big milestones this year. March 15th marks 40 years since the site’s creation as an Arkansas state park... and sometime soon, the 30,000th diamond found since the park’s opening will be unearthed.
The latest count of diamonds found at the park is 29,934 -- just 66 short of 30,000. The park plans to commemorate the find.Last year, 106,524 people visited Crater of Diamonds State Park. It was a record year for diamond finds, with more than 500 dug up by visitors. 30 of those diamonds were over one carat in weight.The search area at the park is a 37 1/2 acre plowed field on the eroded surface of the eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world (in surface area). Crater of Diamonds State Park is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public.Crater of Diamonds State Park is located two miles southeast of downtown Murfreesboro. For more information contact Justin Dorsey, park superintendent, Crater of Diamonds State Park, at 870-285-3113, or email him at justin.dorsey@arkansas.gov. Crater of Diamonds State Park is located at 209 State Park Road in Murfreesboro.
####Submitted by the Arkansas Department of Parks & TourismOne Capitol Mall, Little Rock, AR 72201, 501-682-7606E-mail: info@arkansas.comMay be used without permission. Credit line is appreciated:"Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism" Kat RobinsonCommunications Manager, Tourism DivisionArkansas Department of Parks & Tourism1 Capitol Mall, Rm4A-900Little Rock, AR 72201www.Arkansas.comphone 501-682-7606fax 501-682-2523 Mission Statement of the Communications Section:“To increase visitation to Arkansas by portraying a positive image of the state through visual, electronic and editorial communications”
NEWS RELEASE: 12/16/2011
The Year 2011 Has Been a Successful One for Diamond Hunters at the Crater of Diamonds State Park
For Immediate Release(MURFREESBORO, Ark.)--Looking back over the past 12 months, the year 2011 has been a successful one for the park visitors who have hunted for diamonds in the 37 ½-acre search area at Arkansas’s diamond site, the Crater of Diamonds State Park. According to Park Superintendent Justin Dorsey, over 500 diamonds have been found by visitors this year. Of this year’s diamond finds, 30 have weighed over a carat each. The year’s largest diamond find was an 8.66-carat white diamond found in April. And on Monday of this week, David Anderson of Murfreesboro found the 535th diamond this year. His 3.83-carat pear-shaped, yellow diamond marks the fourth largest find for the year.
Park Interpreter Margi Jenks said, “This has been a great year for our park visitors here at the Crater of Diamonds. During every month this year, a visitor unearthed a diamond weighing over a carat. And in April, six diamonds weighed over a carat including the year’s largest diamond find, the 8.66-carat Illusion Diamond discovered by Beth Gilbertson of Salida, Colorado.” She continued, “That white diamond ranks as third largest diamond found by a park visitor since the Crater of Diamonds was established as an Arkansas state park in 1972.”
Jenks noted that David Anderson found his diamond in the East Drain section of the park’s search area. A regular diamond digger at the park, Anderson found the diamond while washing dirt from a hole he dug that was located near holes dug by other park visitors. Jenks said, “It’s a pale yellow, very shiny diamond about the size of dime. That shine is characteristic of diamonds found here at the Crater of Diamonds.”
According to David Anderson, “Everyone else had moved away from that spot. Everyone missed it!” He continued, “It was in the first bucket of material I washed that morning, and I caught the diamond in my top screen.” Anderson noted that he’s found many diamonds at the park. “This is my sixth diamond weighing over one carat, but this one is the largest of all my diamond finds.” Anderson credits hard work and his “passion for treasure hunting” as the reasons for his success at the park. “You wonder what’s going to be in the next bucket. I’m still looking for an even bigger diamond.”
Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Anderson lives near the park in Murfreesboro now. He decided to name his 3.83-carat diamond the Wolverine Diamond after the Michigan Wolverines football team, his favorite team. “After finding the diamond Monday morning, I met a visitor from Michigan at the park who was also a Wolverine fan. The diamond’s name just came naturally from our conversation,” he said.
The search area at the Crater of Diamonds State Park is a 37 ½-acre plowed field, the eroded surface of the eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world in surface area. It is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public. On average, two diamonds are found each day at the park. The park’s policy is finder-keepers. What park visitors find is theirs to keep. The park staff provides free identification and certification of diamond found at the park. Park interpretive programs and exhibits explain the site’s geology and history and offer tips on recognizing diamonds in the rough.
Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. The three colors found at the Crater of Diamonds are white, brown and yellow, in that order. Other semi-precious gems and minerals found in the park’s search area include amethyst, garnet, peridot, jasper, agate, calcite, barite, and quartz. Over 40 different rocks and minerals are unearthed at the Crater making it a rock hound's delight.
In total, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at Arkansas’s diamond site since the first diamonds found in 1906 by John Huddleston, the farmer who at that time owned the land, long before the site became an Arkansas state park. The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed here in 1924 during an early mining operation. Named the Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats. Other large notable finds from the Crater include the Star of Murfreesboro (34.25 carats) and the Star of Arkansas (15.33 carats).
The largest diamond of the 27,000 discovered by park visitors since the Crater became an Arkansas state park in 1972 was the 16.37-carat Amarillo Starlight. W. W. Johnson of Amarillo, Texas, found this spectacular gem-quality, white diamond in 1975.
In June 1981, the 8.82-carat Star of Shreveport was added to the growing list of large valuable stones found at the Crater.
Another notable diamond from the Crater of Diamonds that has received much national attention is the 1.09-carat D-flawless Strawn-Wagner Diamond. Discovered in 1990 by Shirley Strawn of nearby Murfreesboro, this white gem weighed 3.03 carats in the rough before being cut to perfection in 1997 by the renowned diamond firm Lazare Kaplan International of New York. The gem is the most perfect diamond ever certified in the laboratory of the American Gem Society. The diamond will once again be on display in a special exhibit in the Crater of Diamonds State Park visitor center when the building’s current remodeling project is completed.
Another gem from the Crater is the flawless 4.25-carat Kahn Canary diamond that was discovered at the park in 1977. This uncut, triangular-shape gem has been on exhibit at many cities around the U.S. and overseas. It was featured in an illustrious jewelry exhibition in Antwerp, Belgium in 1997 that included precious stones from throughout the world including the Kremlin collection, the Vatican, Cartier and Christies. And, in late 1997, the Kahn Canary was featured in another prestigious exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York entitled “The Nature of Diamonds.” Former First Lady Hillary Clinton borrowed the Kahn Canary from its owner, Stan Kahn of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and wore it in a special, Arkansas-inspired ring setting designed by Henry Dunay of New York. Mrs. Clinton chose to wear the gem as a special way to represent Arkansas’s diamond site at the galas celebrating both of Bill Clinton’s presidential inaugurals.
Crater of Diamonds State Park is located two miles southeast of downtown Murfreesboro. It is one of the 52 state parks administered by the State Parks Division of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
For more information, contact: Justin Dorsey, park superintendent, Crater of Diamonds State Park, 209 State Park Road, Murfreesboro, AR 71958. Phone: 870-285-3113. E-mail: justin.dorsey@arkansas.gov. Or visit craterofdiamondsstatepark.com.
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