The Crater of Diamonds

This passage is about the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.

Lexile Level: 1050L

Categories: People & Places Animals & Nature


The Crater of Diamonds State Park is located in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. It is the only diamond-producing site in the world that is open to the public. That's right; within the park is a 37-acre field containing a variety of precious gemstones, including garnets, amethysts, and diamonds. About one hundred million years ago, volcanic flows pushed these gemstones to the earth's surface, making them easy to reach. The policy at the park is "finders keepers," and every year visitors from all over the country come to search for their lucky claim. John Huddleston, a farmer who bought the land as a homestead, found the first diamond here in 1906. Over the years he and others tried to turn the land into a commercial mining operation but were unsuccessful. In 1972 the State of Arkansas purchased the Crater of Diamonds for development as a state park. Three years later a man from Texas found a 16.37-carat diamond, the largest diamond ever unearthed by a park visitor.


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