Discovered back in the early 1900s and considered at one time for commercial use, Arkansas has the only proven diamond mine in North America.
After its opening for everyday use by Howard A. Millar in 1952 as a tourist attraction, he struck gold when Mrs. A. L. Parker of Dallas, Texas, found a 15 1/4 carat diamond nicknamed the "Star of Arkansas." Millar used the find in much of his advertising, including the back of the above postcard, and its discovery greatly increased traffic to the tourist attraction. The postcard below set the value of the uncut diamond at $15,000. An advertising mailer I found later set the cut value at $75,000 with the final cut weight at 8.24 carats, this was in 1956. What the value would be in today's dollars would be interesting to know.
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| Back of postcard Mrs. A. L. Parker, Dallas, Texas, holds the beautiful "Star of Arkansas" she found at the Crater of Diamonds. This stone weighed 15 1/4 carats and was valued at more than $15,000 in its rough state. The Crater of Diamonds near Murfreesboro, Arkansas, is the only spot in the United States where diamonds are found. |
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| Back of postcard Crater of Diamonds State Park Display of rough diamonds, cut and faceted Amethyst, Garnets, Agate, Chalcedony and Petrified Wood. These plus many other rocks and minerals are found at the Crater of Diamonds State Park. The state park is located 2 1/2 miles south of Murfreesboro, Arkansas, on Arkansas Highway 301. The only proven diamond mine in North America. |
Millar's Crater of Diamonds became an Arkansas State Park in 1973. Anyone who wishes can pay a small daily fee and hunt for diamonds, keeping any that are found. Count me in for a trip in the spring or fall!
The two postcards below are before Howard Millard purchased the land. It was simply known as the Diamond Preserve.
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| Back of both postcards The "Crater of Diamonds" at the Diamond Preserve of the United States, Inc., 2 1/2 miles southeast of Murfreesboro, Arkansas, is THE ONLY PLACE IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE WHERE DIAMONDS OCCUR IN THEIR MATRIX. The Diamond Preserve is Amerca's newest and most outstanding tourist attraction. |
There have been several large diamonds discovered at the park before and since the "Star of Arkansas." Most are small, the size of pebbles. According to the website for the park, there have been "Famous Finds" from the 40.23 carat Uncle Sam found in 1924 (the largest to date), to the 8.66 carat Illusion found in 2011.
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| Back of postcard
No. 259
Old mine shaft structure. This old leaning structure covered the only shaft that was sunk at the Crater of Diamonds for mining commercially. Records indicate the shaft was sunk to a depth of approximately 65 feet. Commercial diamond mining is usually done by the strip mining method and after the shaft failed to yield any more diamonds per yard than the conventional stripping method, it was abandoned. Today the old shaft building stands in near original shape and serves as a reminder of past years at the Crater.
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For more information, you can go to the park's Web site:
