This is the “Fossil Friday” post #292.  Expect this to be a regular feature of the website.  We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world!

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Michele Micetich, curator at the Carbon Hill School Museum in Carbon Hill, IL, showed me a very nice Annularia inflata (see Mazon Monday #60) a few weeks ago. She received the fossil from Shava J. Spector-Simmons of Las Vegas, Nevada in 2008. Shava grew up in Chicago area and collected Mazon Creek fossils with her family in the 1950s. Below, she describes the fossil and where she found it. From her description, she likely collected it from the Greer School, which operated in what was Pit 1 of the Northern Illinois Coal Company (NICC). The area was known for its abundant and beautiful plant fossils. Cinder Ridge Golf Course now occupies that location.

FERN FOSSIL, FLOWER, ANNULARIA STELLATA WHORL—HORSETAIL RUSH LEAF BOTH SIDES 3 3/4 x 3 INCHES. NOTE ONE SIDE WAS CRACKED AND GLUED TOGETHER. FROM COAL CITY, IL. FROM ABOUT 1950 TO 1955.

AS A FAMILY WE WOULD TRAVEL A SHORT DISTANCE FROM CHICAGO TO COAL CITY, IL. TO THE STRIP MINING AREA. AT THAT TIME THERE WERE LARGE MOUNDS OF EARTH WITH THE FOSSIL NODULES. WE WOULD FILL OUR BAGS AND FIND A PLACE TO SIT AND CRACK OPEN THE NODULES BY TAPPING LIGHTLY AROUND THE EDGE. SOMETIMES YOU WOULD GET A PERFECT PAIR. OTHER TIMES MAYBE NOTHING INSIDE OR THEY WOULD CRACK THE WRONG WAY. THE MOUNDS OF EARTH ARE NO LONGER THERE. A COMPANY USED THE MOUNDS TO TRAIN THEIR LARGE EARTH MOVING DRIVERS ON FOR GRADING.

Here is a photo of her with some friends in the strip mines.

Such a beautiful Annularia! Thanks for sharing, Michele!

These photos are courtesy of the Carbon Hill School Museum.  The museum is located in Carbon Hill, IL.  It has many historically significant photos, artifacts, and documents of the Coal City, Braidwood, and Wilmington area.  The curator, Michele Micetich, is very knowledgeable.  Visit her this summer for a trip back in time to the coal mining days of yesteryear!