Gems, Minerals, Fossils and Rocks have a long and storied history in every state in America.
As you look into the history behind each state's choice of mineral or gem or fossil you will find
that many cities and towns and entire industries have built up around these valuable discoveries.
Some finds have been fully recovered and many still thrive today. Enjoy browsing this listing of
state stones and be sure to delve deeper into the history behind each of them.
| STATE |
ROCK |
MINERAL |
GEMSTONE |
FOSSIL |
Notes of Interest |
| Alabama |
Marble |
Hematite |
Star
Blue Quartz |
Whale -
Basilosaurus cetoides |
Fossil remains of the Basilosaurus cetoides may not be removed from the state without prior written approval of the governor. |
| Alaska |
|
Gold |
Jade |
Wooly Mammoth |
Alaska has large deposits of the jade, including an entire mountain of jade on the Seward Peninsula. |
| Arizona |
|
|
Turquoise |
Petrified wood |
Turquoise can be found throughout the Southwest and is composed of hydrous oxide of aluminum and copper. |
| Arkansas |
Bauxite |
White Quartz |
Diamond |
|
Arkansas is the only diamond-producing state in the United States. John M Huddleston found the first diamonds near Murfreesboro in 1906. |
| California |
Serpentine |
Gold |
Benitoite |
Saber Toothed Cat |
Sometimes called the " blue diamond", benitoite was first discovered near the headwaters of the San Benito River. |
| Colorado |
Yule marble |
Rhodochrosite |
Aquamarine |
Stegosaurus |
The world's largest Rhodochrosite crystal, called the Alma King, was found in the Sweet Home Mine near Alma (Park County), Colorado |
| Connecticut |
|
Garnet |
|
Eubrontes giganteus |
Connecticut is one of the finest sources in the world of the almandine garnet. |
| Delaware |
|
Sillimanite |
|
Belemnite |
The belemnite was, in essence, a squid with a conical shell. |
| Florida |
Agatized Coral |
|
Moonstone |
Agatized Coral |
Ironically, the moonstone, a form of the mineral feldspar, is not found naturally in Florida. It was named the state gem to honor the space program. |
| Georgia |
|
Staurolite |
Quartz |
Shark tooth |
Staurolite is abundant in north Georgia, the distinctively twinned, crystals are collected as good luck charms and also known as fairy stones. |
| Hawaii |
|
|
Black Coral |
|
|
| Idaho |
|
|
Star garnet |
Equus simplicidens |
The star garnet from Emerald Creek, Idaho, is the best garnet outside of India to exhibit the star phenomenon. |
| Illinois |
|
Fluorite |
|
Tullimonstrum gregarium |
Illinois is the largest producer of Fluorite in the United States. Fluorite is used in making steel, enamels, aluminum, glass, and many chemicals |
| Indiana |
Salem Limestone |
|
|
|
|
| Iowa |
Geode |
|
|
|
Geodes are found in limestone formations and have a hard outer shell. When carefully broken open, a sparkling lining of mineral crystals, most often quartz and calcite, is revealed.
|
| Kansas |
|
|
|
|
|
| Kentucky |
Kentucky Agate |
Coal |
Freshwater pearl |
Brachiopod |
|
| Louisiana |
|
Agate |
|
Petrified Palmwood |
|
| Maine |
|
Tourmaline |
|
Pertica quadrifaria |
Pertica quadrifaria (a plant fossil) was first discovered in Maine. Well-preserved remains of Pertica are found at only three other places in the world besides Maine. |
| Maryland |
|
|
Patuxent River Stone |
Ecphora gardnerae
& Astrodon johnstoni |
The Patuxent River Stone is actually an agate, a cryptocrystalline form of quartz. Found only in Maryland, the Patuxent River Stone's colors of red and yellow reflect the Maryland State Flag |
| Massachuetts |
Roxbury Pudding Stone & Granite |
Babingtonite |
Rhodonite |
Dinosaur foot track |
MA is one of the few locations in the world where Babingtonite, usually jet black material with a brilliant submetallic luste,r is found. |
| Michigan |
|
|
Chlorastrolite (Greenstone) |
Petoskey Stone (fossilized coral) |
Chlorastrolite ranges in color from yellow-green to almost black and when polished shows a turtleback pattern. |
| Minnesota |
|
|
Lake Superior agate |
|
Despite their name, Lake Superior agates can be found throughout much of Minnesota |
| Mississippi |
Petrified wood |
|
|
Fossil whale |
|
| Missouri |
Mozarkite
(chert) |
Galena |
|
Crinoid
Delocrinus missouriensis |
The crinoid (Delocrinus missouriensis) is a mineralization of an animal which, because of its plant-like appearance, was called the "sea lily." |
| Montana |
|
|
Sapphire & Montana Agate |
Duck-billed Dinosaur (Maiasaura peeblesorum) |
Yogo mines have produced an estimated forty million dollars in blue sapphires. |
| Nebraska |
Prairie Agate |
|
Blue Chalcedony |
Mammoth |
One mammoth found in Lincoln County, Archidiskodon imperator maibeni, was one of the world's largest elephant fossils. |
| Nevada |
Sandstone |
Silver (metal) |
Black Fire Opal & Turquoise |
Ichthyosaur |
Northern Nevada’s Virgin
Valley is the only place in North
America where black fire opal is
found in any significant quantity.
|
| New Hampshire |
Granite |
Beryl |
Smoky Quartz |
|
|
| New Jersey |
|
|
|
Hadrosaurus foulkii |
|
| New Mexico |
|
|
Turquoise |
Rioarribasaurus |
|
| New York |
|
|
Garnet |
Sea Scorpian
Eurypterus remipes |
Sea scorpions are extinct carnivorous marine arthropods. These fierce hunters had a scorpion-like stinger which may have contained poison, 3 pairs of jointed legs, 2 clawed arms, and strong jaws. |
| North Carolina |
Granite |
|
Emerald |
|
A greater variety of minerals, more than 300, have been found in North Carolina than in any other state. |
| North Dakota |
|
|
|
Teredo petrified wood |
|
| Ohio |
|
|
Flint |
Isotelus (trilobite) |
|
| Oklahoma |
Barite "rose" |
|
Hourglass Selenite Crystal |
Saurophaganax maximus (Theropod dinosaur) |
|
| Oregon |
"Thunder egg" |
|
Sunstone |
Metasequoia |
Oregon is also the only place in the world that this gem grade material is found with copper in it. |
| Pennsylvania
|
|
|
|
Phacops rana |
|
| Rhode Island |
Cumberlandite |
Bowenite
(antigorite) |
|
|
|
| South Carolina |
Blue granite |
|
Amethyst |
|
The curator of mineralogy for the Smithsonian Institute has graded one of the largest early specimens of Amethyst from this SC as the finest seen in this country. |
| South Dakota |
|
Rose Quartz |
Fairburn Agate
| Triceratops |
|
| Tennessee |
Limestone |
|
Tennesseee Pearl |
Pterotrigonia thoracica |
Tennessee River pearls are of all colors and they are “natural” as the mussel made them – all pearl, all the way through. They have been found in various shapes – spherical, pear-shaped and baroque, or irregular. |
| Texas
| Petrified Palm Wood |
|
Blue Topaz |
Pleurocoelus |
Texas also has a state gemstone cut: The Lone Star cut. |
| Utah |
Coal |
Copper |
Topaz |
Allosaurus |
|
| Vermont |
Marble,
Slate, Granite |
Talc |
Grossular Garnet |
Delphinapterus leucas |
Grossular garnet from the Belvidere Mine at Eden Mills is thought to be the finest specimen of its kind anywhere. |
| Virginia |
|
|
|
Chesapecten jeffersonius |
|
| Washington |
|
|
Petrified Wood
Mammoth |
Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) |
|
| West Virginia |
|
|
Chalcedony Coral |
|
|
| Wisconsin |
Red Granite |
Galena |
|
Trilobite (Calymene celebra) |
|
| Wyoming |
|
|
Nephrite Jade |
knightia ( herring) & Triceratops |
|