Chicago O'Hare digs up 50-ton boulder under airfield, asks public for name ideas

72 points - today at 1:56 AM

Source

Comments

thehappypm today at 9:56 PM

The pioneers used to ride those babies for miles!

toddmorey today at 9:54 PM

“I am going to show you where on earth in the future we will find the biggest rock: Space.”

https://youtu.be/aO0TUI9r-So?si=7fNwDvf86GpVFxDR

cmrx64 today at 2:29 AM

https://news.wttw.com/2026/09/11/rock-star-meet-guy-who-exca...

here’s a picture of the actual rock - and digger! phew!

matthewsinclair today at 2:43 AM

Surely it has to be “Boulder McBoulderface”?

[0]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36225652

Stratoscope today at 2:24 AM

Here are the name finalists:

  • Sweet Stone Chicago
  • No ORDinary Rock
  • Chicago Rocks
  • O'Rock
  • Orchard Rock
  • Da Rock

"No ORDinary Rock" and "Orchard Rock" are the winners for me. They both pay tribute to how O'Hare got its IATA airport code in the 1940s, when it was called Orchard Field.

So deciding between the two, Orchard Rock is my pick! It's subtle, but the plaque can explain it.

syspec today at 9:18 PM

Interesting, the construction worker who found is said he never found one that big in all his years working in the field.

I had no idea that would be rare, what makes it relatively rare?

JoeAltmaier today at 7:10 PM

"Mother's Love"

Because, we so often take it for granite.

bcaulfield today at 2:51 AM

Should name it Dwayne Johnson and never explain further.

PyWoody today at 7:41 PM

If you're ever in the area of Madison, NH and have absolutely nothing else to do, the Madison Boulder is kinda neat. [0] It's a little bigger at about 5k tons.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_Boulder

wffurr today at 7:58 PM

Glad they included a video of moving it. 50 tons is close to the limit of a typical boom crane.

ternaryoperator today at 7:15 PM

Is a 50-ton boulder rare or super-rare?

futuresoonpast today at 9:34 PM

Rocky, obvs.

deleted today at 8:10 PM

whycome today at 7:06 PM

When Toronto had to name their team, I’m sure that the success of Jurassic Park helped the finalist (Raptors) win. I’m surprised “Rocky” didn’t make a finalist here (via Project Hail Mary).

Maybe that’s too Philadelphia.

O’Hare “Rocky” Dolomite

mikewarot today at 7:12 AM

Tangent time: I've got a smaller one in my yard, and I've got a set of feathers and wedges to avoid having to dig it all up at once. Here's a video of someone using feathers and wedges to split granite.

https://youtu.be/s7_z-SGxUAs?si=vUKYBWYvG7nncszd&t=924

karlkloss today at 6:35 AM

Rocky McRockface

lifeisstillgood today at 9:04 PM

“Deep Crust” surely?

dbcurtis today at 9:06 PM

Years ago, a company that I worked for had a huge boulder in the parking lot area that had simply been built around. At some point, facilities decided they were going to remove the boulder. Employees printed up some tee shirts that said "Save the BFR". Because, you know, it was a big rock.

MadrasTh0rn today at 8:49 PM

CHIrock or CHI (shy) stone

JoeAltmaier today at 7:08 PM

Pictures or it didn't happen?

lukeify today at 7:17 PM

O’Hareball!

mrlonglong today at 7:20 PM

Bouldery McBoulderface.

huxley today at 7:19 PM

“A large boulder the size of a small boulder"

https://time.com/5772944/large-small-boulder/

nyc_data_geek today at 8:21 PM

Rocky McRockFace

shmilia today at 6:56 PM

Bean

ashton314 today at 7:05 PM

Peewee Pebblestone

contingencies today at 7:56 PM

As an Australian aware of Chicago's Irish heritage and the implied weight balancing our antipodean clime, I'd suggest "Tip O'Dea".

PS. If visiting Chicago check out the Lincoln Park Conservatory, an amazing historic plant collection with one of the world's best ferneries, very close to downtown. https://www.lincolnparkconservancy.org/projects/conservatory...

wewewedxfgdf today at 7:02 PM

Big Boy Boulder

pvaldes today at 7:18 PM

Stonehangar, of course

deleted today at 9:33 PM

mindslight today at 3:51 AM

There's something about finding huge rocks in the ground while digging that makes you just want to take them out and like, use them for something? The last one I found I had to make myself leave it there (well I moved it over a foot so a pipe didn't have to go around it). Like no, it has sat here for thousands of years just fine, it can keep sitting. Glad to hear it applies to 50 ton ones, as well.

powerbroker today at 2:16 AM

There is another rock sitting alongside a chief artery about 25 miles NW just beyond Schaumburg. Silly to give these things a name.

deleted today at 3:05 AM

poontangpoo today at 8:32 PM

[dead]

aaron695 today at 6:47 AM

[dead]

hal-eisen today at 7:17 PM

How is it possible that NONE of the candidate names refer to Colbert? Especially given his time with Second City.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_impact_of_The_Colbert...