Crater of Diamonds Newsletter

Greetings from Crater of Diamonds! Visitation slowed down a bit at the park in August, with school starting back and families wrapping up their summer vacations, but diamond finds continued through the month on a semi-daily basis. In all, 61 diamonds were registered during August, weighing a total of 14.97 carats. Though this total is significantly less than the amount registered in July, it still gives us 744 for the year, 183 more diamonds than by September 2008!

47 of August finds were white, seven were brown, and seven were yellow. Visitors from ten states, including Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Florida, Kansas, and Maryland registered the gems last month, three of which weighed more than one carat.

We recently reached a milestone in our efforts to more efficiently record diamond finds at the park with the design and fabrication of a new diamond database desk. This beautiful, eight-foot workstation, built with great skill by park maintenance supervisor Larry McKinnon, will be home for another major improvement our interpretive staff has been working on: a computerized database and microscope camera for recording future diamond finds and logging records from previous years.

The diamond database desk is a new location for recording and researching diamond finds at the Crater.

When this system is complete, we will be able to arrange diamond finds to discover lots of interesting facts, like how many people from a particular state have found Crater diamonds, how many individual visitors have recorded, or even the percentage of colored diamonds certified! With the microscope camera, we will be capable of visually-recording every diamond certified in great detail, advancing the integrity and completeness of historical records for our park and Southwest Arkansas.

Another nearby Arkansas State Park is also working to collect and share local history with others. On September 6, Historic Washington State Park published the first of what will be a quarterly e-newsletter feature, detailing upcoming events, past successes, new employees, and tales from local history. Editor and park historian Sarah Wade requests interested contributors of articles relating to local history, upcoming park events, or historic preservation issues to contact her by e-mail at sarah.wade@arkansas.gov or by phone at 870-983-2862. Those interested in receiving Historic Washington’s e-newsletter may subscribe or view past issues by visiting the park’s web site, www.HistoricWashingtonStatePark.com.

September 1 - Solomon Baughman, Wesley, AR, 9 pt. white; David Anderson, Kent City, MI, 4 pt. white, 9 pt. brown

September 4 - Glenn Worthington, Springdale, AR, 2 pt. yellow, 2 pt. yellow, 3 pt. yellow, 19 pt. white

September 6 - Denis Tyrrell, Murfreesboro, AR, 4 pt. white, 5 pt. white, 7 pt. white, 7 pt. yellow, 22 pt. yellow, 95 pt. brown