Chicago O'Hare digs up 50-ton boulder under airfield, asks public for name ideas
simpleflying.comhttps://news.wttw.com/2026/09/11/rock-star-meet-guy-who-exca...
here’s a picture of the actual rock - and digger! phew!
That is a wonderful article!
> Over the years, Pitelka has rescued some of these rocks and deposited them at his mom’s five-acre property, including a large hunk of limestone that, when he dumped it out of his truck, split in half to reveal a perfect trilobite fossil, convex on one side and a matching imprint on the other.
> “I was so excited to hear that the right people got involved,” he said. “I’m absolutely ecstatic it’s going to be on display. For me, as an (excavator) who loves boulders, it’s the coolest thing that people understand its historical significance and appreciate it.”
Man this guy found his life’s calling. Love to see it.
I love the ambiguity as to whether his mom wants the rocks dropped off in her yard or not. ;)
They should name it after this guy, the Pitelka rock.
That rock couldn't have been found by a better guy.
Even a rock has a soulmate! Not I.- /s
TFA has a picture as well; just scroll down.
I did but honestly didn’t see it. My connection was struggle to load all the billions of ads.
I don't see it. I do see a blocked twitter embed and when I click the link to that I do see a rock https://x.com/cbschicago/status/2111193918909903146
Thank you, great read.
Surely it has to be “Boulder McBoulderface”?
I was going to suggest just this! I love Boaty McBoatface.
But as a resident of the Chicago area, I’m partial to Da Rock
Can have the best of both worlds.
Da Rocky McRockface
Rocky McRockface is the perfect name and gets my vote.
Came here with that same name in mind. It would be a stone cold crime if that wasn't picked.
Gneiss!
Missed opportunity to call it "Rocky Bouldoa"
That would be a slam dunk winner if it was the airport in Philadelphia.
I wonder if there'll be an episode of Hello Internet on it.
I think this is the only valid name
Here are the name finalists:
• Sweet Stone Chicago
• No ORDinary Rock
• Chicago Rocks
• O'Rock
• Orchard Rock
• Da Rock
So deciding between the two, Orchard Rock is my pick! It's subtle, but the plaque can explain it.
I like "Orchard Rock" because it's not some stupid reddit'ism.
Just call it "Dwayne Johnson"?
Then in generations to some, old people can explain that Dwayne Johnson was the King of Wrestling and then became King of Hollywood.
Naming things after living people is bad luck
Surprised to see `ExtraORDinary Rock` missing => 50-tons, that's got to meet the bar for extraordinary.
I like 'Da Rock' because it reminds me of da orks from Warhammer 40K
So they completely ignored the discoverer's suggestion. Humbug.
Shakin my damn head where is "Rock and Roll McDonald"
Wish I saw some of the larger list. This still seems weak.
ORD as an acronym? O Rock D
O’Hare Rock Dolostone O’Hare Runway Dolomite
Rocky.
Da Dolo
O Rock Damn.
How is 'BDU' not the top choice?
Beanie’s Baby
Ditka
I like it. Ditka Rock has a certain ring to it.
"Mother's Love"
Because, we so often take it for granite.
Interesting, the construction worker who found is said he never found one that big in all his years working in the field.
I had no idea that would be rare, what makes it relatively rare?
Should name it Dwayne Johnson and never explain further.
Or Rudy Ray Moore.
The pioneers used to ride those babies for miles!
Boulderdash!
That boulder must be the size of a large boulder.
Is a 50-ton boulder rare or super-rare?
In chicagoland, yes. For someone who moved there from California, it was strange that rocks hardly larger than a human warranted school field trips and plaques. Perhaps it is geologically cool, but I was unimpressed as a 6th grader. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53236492797_60069bde90_b...
I thought the same thing. My back yard is full of huge rocks. Nothing quite that large, maybe 1/3 of that size. A few doors down there is a boulder twice as big as the O'Hare one.
I'm speaking in volume. I'm not sure of the mass of these boulders.
In an area that was covered by a glacier in the last 20k years, yes.
Chicago was covered by ice during the most recent glaciation, which means that boulder is probably a glacial erratic covered by till leftover from the movement of the glacier.
Glacial erratic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic
It's not just the fact that the area was covered by ice. The local geology is also a factor.
Glacial erratics are everywhere in Scandinavia, which also obviously was covered by the ice. Small ones, like in the article, are scattered all over. Large ones weigh thousands of tons and may often be mistaken for bedrock.
I suspect there are other areas in North America where that's also true.
Dunno, but I haven't ever come across one on my property.
Medium-rare I would guess
Well-done, I must say.
Not from the look of it.
If you're ever in the area of Madison, NH and have absolutely nothing else to do, the Madison Boulder is kinda neat. [0] It's a little bigger at about 5k tons.
With New Hampshire mentioned, I must make mention of one glorious boulder that sits alongside Rumney's Quincy Road[0]. This is worth checking out if you're visiting the Plymouth area. Street View doesn't do it justice.
> It weighs upwards of 5,000 short tons (4,500,000 kg).
TIL there's something called a short ton.
“I am going to show you where on earth in the future we will find the biggest rock: Space.”
O’Hareball!
I thought a 50 ton boulder would be bigger!
“A large boulder the size of a small boulder"
I was going to suggest something in that vein, perhaps "a giant boulder the size of a large boulder" to distinguish it from its Coloradan cousin.
Glad they included a video of moving it. 50 tons is close to the limit of a typical boom crane.
Rocky McRockface
When Toronto had to name their team, I’m sure that the success of Jurassic Park helped the finalist (Raptors) win. I’m surprised “Rocky” didn’t make a finalist here (via Project Hail Mary).
Maybe that’s too Philadelphia.
O’Hare “Rocky” Dolomite
The Boulder. No Avatar references yet?
Pictures or it didn't happen?
Tangent time: I've got a smaller one in my yard, and I've got a set of feathers and wedges to avoid having to dig it all up at once. Here's a video of someone using feathers and wedges to split granite.
Years ago, a company that I worked for had a huge boulder in the parking lot area that had simply been built around. At some point, facilities decided they were going to remove the boulder. Employees printed up some tee shirts that said "Save the BFR". Because, you know, it was a big rock.
O'Bollard.
Rocky McRockFace
Biggie.
CHIrock or CHI (shy) stone
Oooh. “CHI and the Family Stone” is perfect.
Stonehangar, of course
Bean
“Deep Crust” surely?
Bouldery McBoulderface.
Crystal
What means "prehistoric boulder", are not essentially all boulders prehistoric? I just don't know what a historic boulder would even mean. Something in Raiders of the Lost Ark?
This boulder was broken off and shaped by the ice thousands of years ago. New rocks fall off mountains all the time.
Peewee Pebblestone
Rocky, obvs.
Big Boy Boulder
As an Australian aware of Chicago's Irish heritage and the implied weight balancing our antipodean clime, I'd suggest "Tip O'Dea".
PS. If visiting Chicago check out the Lincoln Park Conservatory, an amazing historic plant collection with one of the world's best ferneries, very close to downtown. https://www.lincolnparkconservancy.org/projects/conservatory...
There's something about finding huge rocks in the ground while digging that makes you just want to take them out and like, use them for something? The last one I found I had to make myself leave it there (well I moved it over a foot so a pipe didn't have to go around it). Like no, it has sat here for thousands of years just fine, it can keep sitting. Glad to hear it applies to 50 ton ones, as well.
In New England they made stone walls out of them. Of course most where smallish
https://www.outdoors.org/resources/amc-outdoors/history/hist...
In “original” England they did as well.
Oh sure, I'm definitely familiar with those. The weird ones are in forests, a reminder that an area used to be clear and then was left to grow back.
The walls of stones were the result of collecting stones that were near the surface from what I understand (maybe plow depth). I was talking more like bigger stones that were buried several feet under the ground that could just stay where they are (when you fill in the hole), but for a compulsion to treat them as things.
In New England they made stone walls out of them.
In “original” England they did as well.
There is another rock sitting alongside a chief artery about 25 miles NW just beyond Schaumburg. Silly to give these things a name.
There are big rocks everywhere. But surely we can be allowed to have a little fun?
OK, OK. just drag it up to Schaumburg. Put it next to the other rock. Then call it 'micro-henge'.
That works for me! Can you help me drag this 50-ton rock?
I nominate "Boaty McBoatface".
How is it possible that NONE of the candidate names refer to Colbert? Especially given his time with Second City.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_impact_of_The_Colbert...
Colbert is not a Chicago figure. You'd have to remind the median Chicagoan who knows who he is that he ever spent time here. You might just as easily name it after Bob Odenkirk.
And at least Odenkirk sounds like he’s from Chicago (because he is). Colbert’s time in Chicago was a short part of his life.
Berwyn, technically! Our neck of the woods. :)
He grew up in Naperville. Wikipedia says he was born in Berwyn, which I assume just means he was born at McNeal, but I don’t think he ever lived there or there’d be a bigger deal made of it by the local gentry. But that voice is hardcore inner suburbs/southwest side. I had no difficulty believing Jimmy McGill grew up in Cicero.
I dont get it. Does he have some association with large rocks or something?