# What is This Big Pile of Rocks in Northeastern Illinois? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916 "2008-07-01T16:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/1 "2008-07-01T16:06:02Z")
Just to the left (as you’re driving north) of Interstate 55 in Illinois, near the intersection with Reed Rd., north of the town of Dwight, is this big pile of rocks that’s been there for as long as I can remember (I can remember seeing it as a small child, so it’s been there for at least 30 years). [This might be it, if I can get MSN Live Maps to work](http://maps.live.com/#JnE9eXAuR29kbGV5JTJjK0lMJTdlc3N0LjAlN2VwZy4xJmJiPTQxLjI1MDM4Njc0MTgyNzElN2UtODguMjQ0MDMyODU5ODAyMyU3ZTQxLjIzNjM4MjExMjYxOTQlN2UtODguMjcwODk3ODY1Mjk1NA==). It looks like a slag heap, but I’m not aware of any mining going on in the immediate area, and a short survey of the area on Live Maps reveals no evidence of mining that I can see. Any idea what this is about? Why would there be a 50-foot-high (by my estimation) mound of what looks like gravel in the middle of flat prairie, and how and why would it stand for 30 years? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/2 "2008-07-01T16:10:55Z")
OK, the link isn’t working properly, so I’ll have to give you some instructions: 1. Center the town of Godley. 2. Zoom in to 0.6 mile resolution. 3. Witness the curved, brown road (Interstate 55) to the east and slightly north of the town. 4. See the big patch of green to the east of the curved brown road? Center that. 5. Zoom in to 250 yards resolution. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/3 "2008-07-01T16:19:29Z")
Using Google Maps, is [this](http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=101833478029998423568.000450f8b7ff5f16e102b&ll=41.237479,-88.265748&spn=0.020331,0.035706&z=15) the pile you’re talking about? ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/4 "2008-07-01T16:23:15Z")
Hmm, it appears there’s another one a little further down the road. I’ve marked it on my map as well. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/5 "2008-07-01T16:32:24Z")
The southern one appears to be associated with a [concrete contractor.](http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Zingre.Concrete.2.815-634-2663) It seems plausible that the northern one is too. If you’re really curious, you could give them a call and find out. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/6 "2008-07-01T16:50:19Z")
[QUOTE=HeyHomie] It looks like a slag heap, but I’m not aware of any mining going on in the immediate area, and a short survey of the area on Live Maps reveals no evidence of mining that I can see. [/QUOTE] I don’t know how that pile of slag got to that specific location, but are you serious about no evidence of mining in that area? That area that is immediately S of Coal City? Do those lakes immediately E and N of the slag heap look like natural formations to you? Continue up 55 and you’ll pass right by the golf course Cinder Ridge. In short - big history of strip mining throughout that area. Plenty of sources of plenty of slag. But, tho I have often noticed this particular heap, I do not know why it exists in that specific location. My WAG would be some type of planned processing center that never came to pass. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/7 "2008-07-01T17:01:44Z")
[QUOTE=MikeS] Using Google Maps, is [this](http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=101833478029998423568.000450f8b7ff5f16e102b&ll=41.237479,-88.265748&spn=0.020331,0.035706&z=15) the pile you’re talking about? [/QUOTE] Yes, that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/8 "2008-07-01T17:16:27Z")
If [this](http://flickr.com/photos/joetank/1254701452/) is not the slag heap in question, it is its twin. And [this article](http://www.legendsofamerica.com/IL-CoalMineTowns2.html) talks of the prevalence of slag heaps throughout that area. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/9 "2008-07-01T21:28:45Z")
[QUOTE=MikeS] Using Google Maps, is [this](http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=101833478029998423568.000450f8b7ff5f16e102b&ll=41.237479,-88.265748&spn=0.020331,0.035706&z=15) the pile you’re talking about? [/QUOTE] I just want to thank Mike for pointing out the pile. No disrespect to neither HeyHomie or MSN Live Maps, but was so frustrating searching for the mthrfcking pile I got existiential problems, wondering what the heck I was doing with my life turning forty and everything. Good pile, anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/10 "2008-07-01T21:45:54Z")
I was gonna guess “glacial deposit”, but never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/11 "2008-07-02T03:54:15Z")
I don’t know what it is, but if it’s a slag pile, it’s not a very large one. And if it’s a coal mine tailings pile, it’s _really_ small. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/12 "2008-07-02T12:28:37Z")
I see at least two others in the same general area, including one just up the road. Seems pretty clear that, at some time, something was processed in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/13 "2008-07-03T13:38:44Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] I see at least two others in the same general area, including one just up the road. Seems pretty clear that, at some time, something was processed in the area. [/QUOTE] And for whatever reasons, apparently the cost of hauling this crap away or otherwise reclaiming the land exceeds the lost opportunity cost of just allowing the land to lie fallow - for decades! The golf course I mentioned above - Cinder Ridge - has actually been an interesting place to watch slow reclamation over the years. When it opened, the land immediately abutting the course was a lunar landscape. You would look just offthe course and expect to see Mad Max rocketing towards you. Pretty soon cottonwoods and other opportunistic early colonists took foot. Over the years they have been levelling mounds, and hauling in truckloads of compost and sludge. Still not exactly edenic, but a far cry from what it was only a decade or so ago. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/14 "2008-07-03T13:57:07Z")
My first thought when seeing the title? “I believe that’s called ‘Chicago’.” My snark runs on autopilot. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-big-pile-of-rocks-in-northeastern-illinois/454916/15 "2008-07-03T19:29:30Z")
[http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl) Pitcher Oklahoma… Lots of tailings piles. Was tin mining area IIRC…