Petoskey Stone
Petoskey Stone
This interesting stone is a variety of Calcite and was formed by the fossilization of the coral, Hexagonaria. Petoskey Stones are found on many beaches of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron as well as in rock quarries from Traverse City to Alpena. The honeycomb pattered stone has a hardness of 4 to 5 and is the official Michigan State Stone.
The stone was named for an Ottawa chief, Chief Pet-O-Sega, son of a French fur trader and Ottawa mother. The city of Petoskey, Michigan, is also named after him, and is the center of the area where the stones are found. The stones are commonly found on beaches and in sand dunes.
Petoskey Stone is different in color, texture and markings from all others. It is commonly called the Petosky Agate by the old timer locals, a fossil compound coral known to science as hexagonaria. Each individual coral forms a hexagonal pattern with radiating lines within, About 300 million years ago these corals were formed in the warm salt water that covered the area. Through the glacier ages the coral was displaced by minerals of different kinds making a wide variation of colors from light almost white grey to dark brown greys and all colors between.
In recent years these stones have added to the delight of stone polishers. Their almost pure limestone slightly crystalline formation makes them ideal for working into a fine pollished finish that accents their patterns within the stone.
Whether you want a stone to polish or just a keepsake Petoskey Stone, they can be found along the waters from Arcadia along Frankfort and North to Charlevoix and Petosky....they are rarely found elsewhere in the world.
