Quick Pictorial History of Mazon Creek

[Nimravis]

As I was going through pictures today to post a picture of a friends Bandringa rayi, I started to look through some pictures that I had taken of the Mazon Creek area in the late 80's and early 90's and figured that some members might like to see the area(s).

 

When the Mazon Creek Project was active and run by Northeastern Illinois University you could contact them for and an orange Permanent Collecting pass. Before you could receive the pass, you had to sign a release and get it notarized. The Mazon Creek Project would then send the larger orange card that was signed by the collector to the Commonwealth Edison Nuclear Power Plant in Braidwood, Il. 

 

 

Every year, you would also receive a postcard, similar to the one below, that would tell the collector when the season opened / closed and notify them of any changes.

 

 

When Commonwealth Edison ran the grounds, you would drive to the "Fossil Gate", which was manned by a Commonwealth Edison guard Saturday and Sunday 8am-4pm. Sometimes during the week you could try to enter through the main gate for the plant and every once in a while someone would let you into the property.

 

 

When you arrived at the "Fossil Gate" on the weekend, you would pull your car up and show them you small orange pass. The guard would then take that pass and compare it to the signature on the larger card that was in his possession and if everything was good, you received a numbered pass and drive on into the property and to your collecting area.

 

 

Now there were many times when the weather was terrible, and the only people collecting were me and my son, who was about 5 years old at that time. The guard would stay there for the whole 8 hours until it was 4pm and we were leaving.

 

I believe around 1990 or 1991, the area was turned into the Mazonia- Braidwood Conservation area and the "Fossil Gate" was closed and we had to walk in from W5000N. At that time we received different personal cards.

 

 

Here are some pics of Pit 11, the area where great fauna was found. During this time, there were still plenty of areas to collect that were not covered by vegetation.

 

 

Here are some pics of the road W5000N and the "Tipple Area". During one season some construction equipment showed up and was doing some work, it helped uncover concretions.

 

 

 

Also once in a great while, you could be walking down W5000N and notice a large pile of opened and closed concretions that were dumped by someone. I always figured that it was possibly done by the spouse of child of an older collector that had passed away. They knew that there were collectors out there that would cherish those concretions. Sometimes some great looking shrimp or a fish was found in the opened concretions. Below is an example of one such pile.

 

[Nimravis]

The below picture is of the Braceville Shaft Mine. This is an area that is private and is visited twice a years by ESCONI members. When I took this picture, you were able to gain access any time that you wanted and collect. Besides fossils, you could also find remnants of the Shaft Mining years (i.e. old bottles, tools, mule shoes). One year, the county did some work on a bridge that crossed over I-55. This bridge was located right outside of the entrance to this area. The owner allowed the county or State to take truck loads of this material for the sides of the bridge. During that time it was the easiest fossil collecting that I ever did.

 

 

Here are a couple pictures of the Mazon Creek (River).

 

 

The following pictures are from Pit 4 where some great plants and freshwater fauna was found. At the time there was some building going on and the construction personnel would allow us to collect when they were done for the day- another great way to collect, especially after a rain.

 

 

Here are a few concretions as they were found.

 

 

And some after a short time of collecting.

 

 

Unfortunately, collecting like this is not common anymore. 

[Nimravis]

Here are a couple pictures that I had posted in the past to show how the re-planting of the are has changed the landscape of Pit 11 (Tipple Area) since the Strip Mining was going on.

 

The following 3 pictures are of the same exact area, just years apart:

 

1971

 

 

1993

 

 

2012

 

 

And since 2012, the vegetation has just increased and limited the weathering process, thus locking up concretions in the ground, maybe never to see the light of day.

 

Hope you enjoyed this quick post.

[deutscheben]

Thank you for sharing these! It's fascinating seeing how different it was in the not-so-distant past, and also frustrating seeing how overgrown it has become. On the other hand, I'm glad there is still at least one spot in Illinois where everyone can still legally collect fossils.

[ynot]

Interesting story.

Thanks for sharing.

[Fossildude19]

What a remarkable trip into the recent past!

Thanks for providing this historical snapshot. 

Great post!    

[PFOOLEY]

Good show!

[Nimravis]

@deutscheben, @ynot, @Fossildude19 and @PFOOLEY - thanks for the nice comments, I have been meaning to put something together for a while on Mazon Creek and since I ran across a few of my pictures I thought I would do it now. It brought back some good memories of the different areas that I would go to collect. I still keep an eye out for future construction sites. There is one area that has been up for sale for years that is flat, but over grown. I used to be able to get concretions from the portions that had no vegetation and every concretion that I found would have great Edmondia clams, now renamed Mazonomaya. One day it might be sold and I will be sure to go to this former shaft mine sight and collect what I cannot see now.

[gavialboy]

those are some very interesting pictures. thanks for sharing.

[Miocene_Mason]

What a cool story! Fossil collecting has definitely changed over the years...

[Nimravis]

12 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

What a cool story! Fossil collecting has definitely changed over the years...

It sure has, and as far as I am concerned, Illinois has never done enough to promote such a great fossil site. Ever year I would go to the Mazon Creek Open House that was held at Norrheastern Illinois University in Chicago. Collectors from all over would come and show off their finds and listen to various experts talk about fossils, not always Mazon Creek. People would always ask when the State was going to go in near the Tipple Area and turn over the ground to help expose some concretions. We would always hear that the Project was working on that and would let us know- we even offered to pay for it, but it never happened. One year, a small area was turned over (about 2" depth), but it was not on the Tipple and it was about half the size of a football field. Very disappointing.

[Miocene_Mason]

16 minutes ago, Nimravis said:

It sure has, and as far as I am concerned, Illinois has never done enough to promote such a great fossil site. Ever year I would go to the Mazon Creek Open House that was held at Norrheastern Illinois University in Chicago. Collectors from all over would come and show off their finds and listen to various experts talk about fossils, not always Mazon Creek. People would always ask when the State was going to go in near the Tipple Area and turn over the ground to help expose some concretions. We would always hear that the Project was working on that and would let us know- we even offered to pay for it, but it never happened. One year, a small area was turned over (about 2" depth), but it was not on the Tipple and it was about half the size of a football field. Very disappointing.

There's the rub, if not enough people come not enough resources are put into it, but if to many come all the good fossils will be picked over, and more rules will be put in place. Well someday I'll do my part and visit!

[JohnBrewer]

What an interesting thread! 

[Nimravis]

16 minutes ago, JohnBrewer said:

What an interesting thread! 

Glad you liked it John.

[fossilized6s]

Thanks for sharing these. I must have hunted Mazon pit 11 about 50x or more, and it's pretty neat to see how it use to be.

 

And there's no wonder why all you veterans have all the good stuff!!! Nowadays you need to sacrifice blood, sweat and tears just to get half a bucket! Lol

[Nimravis]

2 hours ago, fossilized6s said:

Thanks for sharing these. I must have hunted Mazon pit 11 about 50x or more, and it's pretty neat to see how it use to be.

 

And there's no wonder why all you veterans have all the good stuff!!! Nowadays you need to sacrifice blood, sweat and tears just to get half a bucket! Lol

So true, but I wish I was there in the 70's- my mentor, who was about 40 years older than me, would tell me stories of how they would leave shrimp, worms and other fauna on the ground if they were not in perfect condition. Nowadays, I would not leave anything- lol.

[Ludwigia]

Thanks for the great history lesson! I really enjoyed this! Even though I've never been there and probably never will, it's just fascinating to read the story about past developments at such a world class site.

[Nimravis]

28 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

Thanks for the great history lesson! I really enjoyed this! Even though I've never been there and probably never will, it's just fascinating to read the story about past developments at such a world class site.

Thanks- glad you liked it, it really is a great site.

[aek]

Interesting to see how that area has changed over the years. Thanks for the glimpse back in time.

[Rocky Stoner]

Wow, amazing to see the interest in these little critters from the past. I envy anyone/everyone with a passion.

Am I correct in assuming that the only fossils from this site are found in concretions (nodules) ?

Are there any in the surrounding strata/ or matrix ? (nomenclature ?)

Very cool post, neat to see the history of a site, short as it may be.

Thanks.

 

[CBOB]

This is such a great post.  Thanks so much.  I hear of the great mazon collecting days but now get to put some actual pictures to the stories.  Thanks so much for taking the time to post this.  It makes me want to get down there this weekend and go hunting! 

[Nimravis]

1 hour ago, Rocky Stoner said:

Wow, amazing to see the interest in these little critters from the past. I envy anyone/everyone with a passion.

Am I correct in assuming that the only fossils from this site are found in concretions (nodules) ?

Are there any in the surrounding strata/ or matrix ? (nomenclature ?)

Very cool post, neat to see the history of a site, short as it may be.

Thanks.

 

I would say that the simple answer is yes. The material or overburden that was removed during the strip mining process contained all types of rocks that were brought down with the glaciers and deposited and the glaciers retreated. I was only concerned with finding concretions, but one time I did find a solitary trilobite in matrix and I know of others that found fossils that were not from the area. The two pictures below show various glacial erratics that were found in the "rivlets" of Tipple Hill. When collecting was slow, I would often carry a bowling ball piece of granite 1/2 mile or more to my car so I could put it out front. They are also great as a base to place concretions when I get bored and crack them often with a hammer.

 

15 minutes ago, CBOB said:

This is such a great post.  Thanks so much.  I hear of the great mazon collecting days but now get to put some actual pictures to the stories.  Thanks so much for taking the time to post this.  It makes me want to get down there this weekend and go hunting! 

Thanks- And you should go and try your luck, just watch out for the ticks.

[Nimravis]

Seeing the interest in this thread on Mazon Creek, I thought that I would re-post some pictures from "Opening Season 2017". I went out on 3-1-17 to collect, the first day of the season and always a good day since there are "usually" no ticks at that time, the weather is cooler and you can maneuver through some of the areas better before the leaves come on the trees. On this day I was collecting on W5000N (Pit 11). 

 

 

Here is the road to the Tipple Area, you are allowed to cross the chain. The Tipple is about 1 or 2 blocks down and to your right.

 

 

 

Here is the view from the hill I was collecting on- not very easy to climb it and easy to get turned around. That is my car parked on W5000N.

 

 

 

 

 

[Nimravis]

This area is very wooded now, but concretions can be found.

 

 

 

Some concretions:

 

 

One showing a possible "plane line":

 

 

A couple open concretions- though common, I love Jellyfish.

 

 

 

The haul for the day:

 

 

 

[Ash]

Looking foward to seeing them open.