Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Red Bird River Petroglyphs, in situ overlooking Red Bird River, circa 1988
Nearest city
Eriline, Kentucky
Area
less than one acre
MPS
Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in Kentucky MPS
NRHP reference No.
89001182[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP
September 8, 1989
Removed from NRHP
December 4, 2003[2]
The Red Bird River Petroglyphs, also known as the Red Bird Petroglyphs are a series of petroglyphs, or carvings, on a stone in Clay County, Kentucky. The rock originally was situated along the Red Bird River but was moved to a park in Manchester after it fell onto the roadway below in 1994.
The Red Bird River Petroglyphs have been assigned the Smithsonian trinomial identifier 15CY51[3]: 31–34 They are sometimes confused with the nearby Red Bird River Shelter Petroglyphs, 15CY52, a separate set of carvings on the opposite bank of the river.[3]: 34–37
On December 7, 1994, the 50-ton stone bearing the petroglyphs fell from a sandstone cliff above the Red Bird River, onto Kentucky Route 66 at Lower Red Bird. On December 9, 1994, it was transported to its present location in Rawlings/Stinson Park in Manchester, where it is roofed over and fenced.[4] The original site was enrolled on the National Register of Historic Places in September 1989, but was delisted in 2003 after the inscribed stone was relocated.[2]
The petroglyphs as currently displayed at Rawlings/Stinson Park in Manchester
The inscribed surface measures 1.6 m (5.5 ft) in height and 6 m (20 ft) in length. The sharply incised and linear carvings have been described as "different from any of the previously reported Kentucky petroglyphs."[3]: 34 Construction and later widening of Highway 66 undermined the inscribed surface and left it 16 feet above the roadway. It is estimated that it was originally at chest height before construction of the highway.
A state historical marker on the river attributes the markings to the Cherokee Chief Red Bird, for whom the river was named. In the book Rock Art of Kentucky the authors write that "No mention of Chief Red Bird could be found in several early Kentucky histories published in the nineteenth century. Therefore we contacted the Kentucky Historical Society and received the following letter (Wentworth 1969): "You will note that on our marker we say that he was a legendary Cherokee Indian. There is much legend in the area, but very little of any specific nature and no reliable dates are available."[3]: 31–34
^"National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ ab"List of Weekly Actions 12/12/2003". National Park Service. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
^ abcdFred E. Coy, Jr., Thomas C. Fuller, Larry G. Meadows, and James F. Swauger, Rock Art of Kentucky, University of Kentucky Press, 1997
^Cite error: The named reference Kuz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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