Coney Rock is a 600 foot tall, 1,000 foot long,

glacially A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires d ...

formed

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and

gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

ridge in

Storrs, Connecticut Storrs ( ) is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Mansfield, Connecticut, Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The village is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, ...

, part of the town of

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

. It is part of the 200-acre Coney Rock Preserve owned partly by the Town and partly by Joshua's Trust that includes the remains of an old farm, a marsh, a hemlock grove, a hornbeam stand, a birch grove, and glacial erratics, as well as five miles of white and yellow blazed trails. There is a memorial bench at the peak. According to local legend, one can see

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

from the ridge. The cliff is stepped.

Ownership

Alfred Oden owned Coney Rock until 1933 when he sold the west half to Knute Olsen and the east to Warren Chapin. Olsen's half was bought by the town in 2001 and is part of the 61-acre Dorwart Family Preserve. In response, David Storrs Chapin, Warren's son, sold his half to Joshua's Trust in 2002, who added 9 acres. In 2009, this was connected to Proposal Rocks by another 5.9 acres.

History

The name Coney Rock is of uncertain origin. It may have been in reference to

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

s, a rodent mistaken for a

pika A pika ( , or ) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal native to Asia and North America. With short limbs, a very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative the rabbit, but with short, rounded ears. ...

, or somebody's last name. Another theory is that it was originally "Coony," referring to

raccoons The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

. Whatever the origin, Coney Rock has been named as such for around three centuries. There are several stone walls, old pastures, an old road, and a spring left behind from a previous farm. The ledge was clearcut during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and legend states that calls would travel from here to Fifty Foot Cliff. In 2000, there was an accidental fire.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Top view of Coney Rock with trail mapConey Rock Preserve trail information
Ridges of Connecticut Landforms of Tolland County, Connecticut Protected areas of Tolland County, Connecticut Mansfield, Connecticut Protected areas established in 2001

Ownership

History

See also

References

External links