Stonehenge in England is one of the most well known stone monuments, and it still remains a mystery as to who and why it was built. Michigan has it’s own mysterious stone monument and unlike Stonehenge we know who built it. Behind the Tyrone Memory Gardens Cemetery on White Lake Road, southwest of Fenton, is a small valley that is home to the Tyrone Sunken Gardens. It contains rocks from all fifty states. Some of the stones were quarried over two hundred years ago, and are proudly displayed protruding out of the tall grass and arranged in a Stonehenge type configuration. The rock garden was built in 1930 by Charles Eugene Smith. On the back of the large stone that welcomes visitors he had carved:
After having traveled around the world four different times and visited parts of Europe, Asia, North America, South America, North and South Africa, Australia and the islands of New Zealand, Tasmania, St. Helena, Canary, Fiji, Ceylon, Iceland, Hawaii, Philippine, New Foundland, Faeroe and many others and considering the famous rock gardens of Iceland and the sunken gardens of London, England, and Mexico City the most beautiful I contribute this memorial in my memory to this small garden.
The garden has stones from each state with the state motto and flower carved on them. They are arranged in a circular pattern around a central pedestal that once held a sundial. Some of the stones date back to the 1700s. I am not sure how he came about acquiring the stones, I can only imagine they were given to him by friends he had met on his journeys. Along with the garden was a little park with picnic tables for travelers to eat on. He also had a small zoo with deer and peacocks to entertain visitors. Before Smith died in 1948 he sold his little park and garden to Basil Beck.
The new owner built a little train for children to ride. He also constructed a log cabin that he used as a museum which housed a collection of dinosaur fossils and an antique shoe collection. The zoo and train are gone and the area is now part of the cemetery. The log cabin can be seen near the pathway that leads to the Sunken Gardens. I was not able to find any information about Smith, I don’t know where or when he was born. I also don’t know why he chose Fenton for the location of his mystical stone garden. I think he wanted to inspire other explorers and wayward souls. Many rocks have inspiring proverbs and sayings, some by Smith himself. You will have to visit this wonderful little spot to read them for yourself.
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