Chicago O'Hare digs up 50-ton boulder under airfield, asks public for name ideas (simpleflying.com)

78 pointsby Stratoscope20 hours ago63 comments

cmrx64 20 hours ago

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

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

Stratoscope 15 hours ago

That is a wonderful article!

> Over the years, Pitelka has rescued some of these rocks and deposited them at his mom’s five-acre property, including a large hunk of limestone that, when he dumped it out of his truck, split in half to reveal a perfect trilobite fossil, convex on one side and a matching imprint on the other.

> “I was so excited to hear that the right people got involved,” he said. “I’m absolutely ecstatic it’s going to be on display. For me, as an (excavator) who loves boulders, it’s the coolest thing that people understand its historical significance and appreciate it.”

aktenlage 15 hours ago

Thank you, great read.

xnx 2 hours ago

That rock couldn't have been found by a better guy.

ComputerGuru an hour ago

TFA has a picture as well; just scroll down.

matthewsinclair 20 hours ago

Surely it has to be “Boulder McBoulderface”?

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

samgranieri 3 hours ago

I was going to suggest just this! I love Boaty McBoatface.

But as a resident of the Chicago area, I’m partial to Da Rock

aceazzameen an hour ago

Can have the best of both worlds.

Da Rocky McRockface

tanseydavid an hour ago

Rocky McRockface is the perfect name and gets my vote.

tjwebbnorfolk 27 minutes ago

I think this is the only valid name

Stratoscope 20 hours ago

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.

whycome 3 hours ago

Wish I saw some of the larger list. This still seems weak.

ORD as an acronym? O Rock D

O’Hare Rock Dolostone O’Hare Runway Dolomite

Rocky.

Da Dolo

jhatax 3 hours ago

Surprised to see `ExtraORDinary Rock` missing => 50-tons, that's got to meet the bar for extraordinary.

RaftPeople 3 hours ago

Ditka

anonymousDan 3 hours ago

I like it. Ditka Rock has a certain ring to it.

lbriner an hour ago

Just call it "Dwayne Johnson"?

Then in generations to some, old people can explain that Dwayne Johnson was the King of Wrestling and then became King of Hollywood.

robotnikman an hour ago

I like 'Da Rock' because it reminds me of da orks from Warhammer 40K

swingandamiss an hour ago

I like "Orchard Rock" because it's not some stupid reddit'ism.

toddmorey 25 minutes ago

Beanie’s Baby

deepspace 8 minutes ago

How is 'BDU' not the top choice?

toddmorey 20 minutes ago

“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

JoeAltmaier 3 hours ago

"Mother's Love"

Because, we so often take it for granite.

syspec an hour ago

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?

thehappypm 18 minutes ago

The pioneers used to ride those babies for miles!

bcaulfield 19 hours ago

Should name it Dwayne Johnson and never explain further.

cestith 7 hours ago

Or Rudy Ray Moore.

PyWoody 3 hours ago

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 2 hours ago

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

ternaryoperator 3 hours ago

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

tptacek 3 hours ago

Not from the look of it.

hoppyhoppy2 3 hours ago

Dunno, but I haven't ever come across one on my property.

Yizahi 3 hours ago

Medium-rare I would guess

crisnoble 2 hours ago

In chicagoland, yes. For someone who moved there from California, it was strange that rocks hardly larger than a human warranted school field trips and plaques. Perhaps it is geologically cool, but I was unimpressed as a 6th grader. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53236492797_60069bde90_b...

waltbosz 2 hours ago

I thought the same thing. My back yard is full of huge rocks. Nothing quite that large, maybe 1/3 of that size. A few doors down there is a boulder twice as big as the O'Hare one.

I'm speaking in volume. I'm not sure of the mass of these boulders.

dbcurtis an hour ago

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.

whycome 3 hours ago

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

karlkloss 16 hours ago

Rocky McRockface

mikewarot 15 hours ago

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

futuresoonpast 40 minutes ago

Rocky, obvs.

huxley 3 hours ago

“A large boulder the size of a small boulder"

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

entrope an hour ago

I was going to suggest something in that vein, perhaps "a giant boulder the size of a large boulder" to distinguish it from its Coloradan cousin.

JoeAltmaier 3 hours ago

Pictures or it didn't happen?

lukeify 3 hours ago

O’Hareball!

lifeisstillgood an hour ago

“Deep Crust” surely?

MadrasTh0rn an hour ago

CHIrock or CHI (shy) stone

mrlonglong 3 hours ago

Bouldery McBoulderface.

nyc_data_geek 2 hours ago

Rocky McRockFace

shmilia 3 hours ago

Bean

ashton314 3 hours ago

Peewee Pebblestone