FERGUSON ROCK
- Program
- Subject
- Location
- Lat/Long
- Grant Recipient
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Legends & Lore®
-
Legend
- 1404 S Kanawha St, Beckley, WV 25801, USA
- 37.772026, -81.173263
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Raleigh County Historical Society
FERGUSON ROCK
Inscription
FERGUSON ROCKIN 1814 AN INJURED YOUNG MAN
THROWN AND ABANDONED BY
HIS HORSE ON PINEY CREEK
PURPORTEDLY CARVED HIS OWN
TOMBSTONE AWAITING DEATH
WEST VIRGINIA HUMANITIES COUNCIL
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2020
In 1988 a very curious 500 lb rock was accidentally uncovered by a construction crew near Piney Creek, in Beckley, West Virginia. The following inscription was chiseled onto the rock:
S. Ferguson
F. County
1814
The mysterious rock, which came to be known as Ferguson Rock, puzzled locals. The year 1814 predated the founding of the community in the 1830’s. Speculation abounded. One popular theory is that a young hunter was passing through from Franklin County, Virginia. Injured and incapacitated when thrown from his horse, he grimly accepted his fate. Before his death, the man managed to carve his name and details onto the rock, effectively creating his own tombstone.
