JACKSON, MI – Crews working at the Jackson County Airport discovered a 20,000-pound boulder that most likely traveled here nearly 14,000 years ago in a glacier from Canada.

The boulder was discovered as Mead Brothers Excavation workers began work related to the service road and snow removal equipment building.

Airport Manager Kent Maurer had no idea what had been discovered. He took a photo of the rock and started asking if anyone wanted it. Removing the boulder is not in the project bid, and Maurer wanted it gone.

“Almost as a joke I took a photo of it and sent it to the airport board saying it was free and to come and get it,” Maurer said. “One thing led to another and a geologist came out.”

That geologist is retired school teacher Ernie Fischer.

“He thought it would offer some critical information because it was moved here by the glaciers. It’s not native to this area … it’s just amazing,” Maurer said.

Fischer said the boulder is probably a little less than 2 billion years old and most likely traveled here from Canada in an area that is known as the Canadian Shield.

During a period of the Ice Age, glaciers from Canada traveled to Michigan. Fischer said about 13,000 to 14,000 years ago the glaciers started melting in this area. When they melted the glaciers left behind debris.

“They left behind all the glacial debris that they were carrying. It could range from small clay particles to sand to gravel to boulders,” Fischer said. “This is just one of the zillions of boulders that was brought down from Canada.”

He said the boulder is made out of quartzite, which is not native to Michigan.

“I’m not exactly certain where that type of quartzite originated from."

He said it is a metamorphic rock that started out as sandstone.

For the past 25 to 30 years, Fischer has been searching and collecting these types of large rocks. He takes them to the Dahlem Conservancy, previously known as the Dahlem Nature Center, to be put on display. The one found at the airport is at the conservancy.

“I’ve been keeping my eyes out for larger rocks and making a display at the nature center,” Fischer said, who taught geology at Jackson High School for 30 years before retiring in 1992.