Agassiz Rock facts for kids
Agassiz Rock is a cool park in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, covering about 116 acres. It's looked after by The Trustees of Reservations. This park is famous for two giant rocks called "glacial erratics." These rocks were moved here by huge glaciers long, long ago! Imagine a giant ice bulldozer pushing and shaping the land. As the glaciers moved, they smoothed one side of the hills and left the other side rough as they broke off pieces of rock.
There are two main rocks: Little Agassiz Rock and Big Agassiz Rock. Little Agassiz Rock is a huge granite stone that looks like it's balancing on a smaller rock, with a space underneath. Not far away, you'll find Big Agassiz Rock, which is about 30 feet tall! It sits in a swampy area, and nobody knows how deep it goes into the ground.
You can explore the park on a one-mile loop trail that takes you past both of these amazing rocks. Just be careful after a lot of rain, as the area around Big Agassiz Rock can get a bit flooded!
History of the Rocks
In 1874, some students decided to name this special place after Louis Agassiz. He was a smart professor from Harvard University who came up with an important idea. He was the first to suggest that the many rocks scattered across New England were actually moved and shaped by giant sheets of ice called glaciers.
Professor Agassiz visited this site and saw that the strange shapes of the rocks fit his idea perfectly. Before Agassiz shared his theory, many people thought that these rocks were spread across New England because of a huge flood, like the one mentioned in the story of Noah. Agassiz Rock is now often used as a great example of a glacial erratic.
The first part of the park was given as a gift in 1957. More land was added through gifts and purchases in the years that followed, including 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, and 2001.
See Also
