Murfreesboro Mayor Rodney Fagan and I pull into the parking lot of Crater of Diamonds State Park and begin looking at the license plates. In addition to the expected Texas and Louisiana plates, there are vehicles from Illinois and California. And it's not even spring break season yet.
"It's amazing how popular this park became during the pandemic," Fagan says. "People figured out this was a place you could get out in the country, socially distance from other people and do something fun while being outside."
Later this month, Crater of Diamonds will celebrate its 50th anniversary as a state park. The celebration will take place April 22-23 at the park on Arkansas 301 near Murfreesboro. This isn't just any state park, mind you. Arkansas once was known as the Diamond State. The outline of a diamond is on the Arkansas flag. Having North America's only public diamond mine is part of our very identity as Arkansans.
"Thank goodness we didn't ruin the area with commercial mining," Fagan says.
After John Wesley Huddleston, a farmer and prospector, found the first diamonds in Pike County in 1906, there was a diamond rush. Fortune hunters descended on the area, and the town of Kimberly sprang up to handle the sudden influx. Huddleston's farm and adjoining property owned by Millard Mauney were the center of attention.
Within a few years, the land on top of what's known as the Prairie Creek Pipe (an ancient volcanic vent) was in the hands of Arkansas Diamond Co. and Ozark Diamond Mines Corp. Mining took place from time to time during the next four decades, but there were also, according to state documents, "constant financial strain, poor management, lawsuits and sabotage."
In 1924, Arkansas Diamond Co. employee Wesley Oley Basham found a 40.23-carat diamond. Known as the Uncle Sam, the white diamond had a pink cast. It later was cut into a 12.42-carat emerald shape and purchased by a private collector for $150,000 in 1971. It still holds the record as the largest diamond ever found in the United States.
The two rival mining companies formed a partnership in 1952 and opened the property as a tourist attraction. Visitors paid to search for diamonds and were allowed to keep what they found. Among the diamonds discovered during this era were the 15.33-carat Star of Arkansas in 1956, the 6.42-carat Gary Moore in 1960, and the 34.25-carat Star of Murfreesboro in 1964.
By the late 1960s, legislators from southwest Arkansas were working to have the state purchase the diamond mine. The $750,000 purchase was approved and Crater of Diamonds State Park was created in March 1972. A year later, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The state owns about 900 acres along the Little Missouri River, including the 37-acre field where visitors search for diamonds. The volcanic explosion that formed the Prairie Creek Pipe occurred more than 100 million years ago and brought diamonds to the surface.
According to the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism: "Crater diamonds are usually less than a carat in size and come in all colors, with white, yellow and brown being the most common. They're often smooth and rounded in appearance and have an almost metallic luster. In addition to diamonds, the search field also yields agate, jasper, quartz and amethyst."
Stacy Hurst, who heads the department, calls Crater of Diamonds "one of the most recognizable ambassadors for Arkansas. In many cases, if people outside our state know little else about us, they know that you can come to Arkansas and search for diamonds."
Perhaps the most well-known diamond found since this became a state park was the Strawn-Wagner. Shirley Strawn of Murfreesboro discovered the 3.03-carat gem in 1990. It was cut to a 1.09-carat shape and certified as a perfect D flawless diamond, the highest-quality diamond ever graded by the American Gem Society. Strawn used her name and that of her great-great-grandfather, Lee Wagner, to name the diamond.
Controversy erupted in the early 1990s when Gov. Bill Clinton signed a bill authorizing a lease for commercial mining. Four companies participated in a cooperative project to explore the possibility of mining. By 1994, it was determined that there wouldn't be enough return to make a commercial operation viable.
On April 22, park officials will unveil a display commemorating the discovery of the 8.52-carat Esperanza diamond. It's the sixth-largest gem found at the park in the past 50 years. In September 2015, the diamond was cut into a triolette shape weighing 4.6 carats. It was graded as colorless and internally flawless by the AGS and appraised at $1 million.
An informational plaque will be unveiled on the south end of the diamond search area where the Esperanza was found.
"Part of a diamond's value comes from its rarity," says Caleb Howell, the park superintendent. "Few visitors find diamonds at the park, but most leave happy because they find something more valuable here. That's the chance to reconnect with family and friends in a natural setting."
The record annual attendance at the park is 186,000, a record Howell expects to break in this anniversary year. More than 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at Crater of Diamonds since Huddleston found two diamonds in August 1906.
During the past five decades, more than 4.5 million people have searched for diamonds here. Looking out at a crowded parking lot during what's usually a slow season for tourists, I'm convinced they won't quit coming anytime soon.
Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.