Cumberland, Rhode Island: Best Place on Earth to Find Cumberlandite
Cumberlandite, sometimes mistaken for meteoric iron, is only found in quantity at this one, back-road four-acre site. An adjacent graveyard features Cumberlandite tombs.
- Address:
- Elder Ballou Meeting House Rd, Cumberland, RI
- Directions:
- I-295 exit 10 onto Hwy 122/Mendon Rd. Drive north about three miles. Turn right onto West Wrentham Rd. Drive two miles. Turn left onto Elder Ballou Meeting House Rd. You'll quickly see the Ballou graveyard on the left. Park on the right shoulder of the road (it's narrow). Walk across the road and you'll see a dirt trail immediately to the left of the cemetery, leading back into the woods. The Cumberlandite site is about 100 yards up that path.
- Admission:
- Free
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Only Place on Earth to find Cumberlandite
Cumberlandite is only found at this one four-acre site on the entire planet. It is Rhode Island's state rock. Cannons were made from it during the Revolutionary War. It is magnetic, high in iron and titanium, and frequently mistaken for a meteorite when found off this location.
What appears to be an Indian burial site is found next door in the Ballou Cemetery; all of the stones are made from Cumberlandite. A few years ago someone was going to build a housing development here, but the town came in and bought the property.
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Cumberlandite can also be found scattered in other New England glacial deposits, but this small spot has the densest concentration of this igneous oddity: the state rock of Rhode Island.