UA Spoofer's Stone hit hard; 150-year landmark rests in pieces after knock by vehicle

Spoofer’s Stone rests in pieces Tuesday after a construction accident east of Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. The historic stone has been a meeting place and the site for many marriage proposals over the years. 
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Spoofer’s Stone rests in pieces Tuesday after a construction accident east of Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. The historic stone has been a meeting place and the site for many marriage proposals over the years. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Spoofer's Stone has been smashed to pieces.

For almost 150 years, it had lain on the front lawn of Old Main, right where it fell from a broken ox cart during construction of the university's oldest building.

Then on Tuesday morning, a vehicle ran into it.

Details are sketchy, said John Thomas, a university spokesman.

Thomas said CDI Contractors was roping off the Senior Walk to do restoration work on the historic sidewalk that extends from the front doors of Old Main toward Arkansas Avenue.

"There was something construction-related in that area as they were setting up, and some vehicle hit the stone," Thomas said. "We don't know exactly how it was hit."

The university posted a photo on Facebook.

"We are sad to report that one of the university's oldest landmarks, Spoofer's Stone, has been heavily damaged in a construction-related accident," according to the post. "The limestone rock broke apart into several sections but a primary section including the plaque remains intact. Ironically, the stone was a left over from the construction of Old Main, completed in 1875."

By Tuesday afternoon, Spoofer's Stone had been covered with a black tarp and corralled by orange fencing.

It looked like a crime scene.

When asked what happened, a construction worker said "no comment."

Thomas said he spoke with someone at the UA Facilities Management department.

"They think it can be repaired," he said.

Spoofer's Stone is a UA landmark.

"In the early days of the university, male and female students were not allowed to fraternize in any way while on campus," according to the Arkansas Alumni Association.

That put a great strain on campus social life. But a new tradition was born from the frustration, and Spoofer's Stone was at the center of it.

"A female student would take a seat on the stone and slip a note for her sweetheart in the crack of the stone," according to the Alumni Association. "She would then rise and walk away. A short time later the male student would stroll over to the stone, take a seat, and retrieve his mail. This continued to be a popular custom with the students for many years. Spoofer's Stone also became a popular place for marriage proposals, and couples who became engaged would often remove small portions of the stone for mementos."

But that caused shrinkage.

"The shrinking size of the stone was fully evident by the early 1930s," wrote Charlie Alison, the author of a forthcoming book on the history of the university.

The classes of 1932 and 1933 set the stone in concrete and asked every student to contribute a penny apiece to pay for adding a plaque to one end, Alison wrote.

"They also made an appeal for students to discontinue the practice of chipping away pieces of the Spoofer's Stone," he wrote.

According to campus lore, the stone weighed about 3,000 pounds when it first crashed to the ground from the ox cart, Alison wrote. When Spoofer's Stone fell from the cart, it cracked. Construction workers just left it there.

These large limestone blocks were hauled up to the building to be cut down for use primarily as the lintels across the tops of windows and doors, as well as for the dressing of the major quoins on the front of the building, according to Alison.

With all the lovers' chipping, Spoofer's Stone had apparently shrunk considerably by 2002, when two students stole half of it. At that time, the two halves of Spoofer's Stone were estimated to weigh a combined 600 pounds.

A ranger with the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission spied the stone in the back of a pickup near Tahlequah, Okla., according to an article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The 1933 plaque was still attached to it.

The students told police they stole it on a $100 bet.

The stolen half of Spoofer's Stone was returned and reattached.

The university's Facebook post about Spoofer's Stone had gotten about 200 comments by the end of the day Tuesday.

"Oh no! My husband proposed to me there 25 years ago," wrote Sarah Gilbert Croswell, a Mountain Home native who lives in Aubrey, Texas. "Hope it is restored quickly."

"Thank goodness no one was leaving a note or proposing at the time," wrote Diana M. Shepherd of Fayetteville.

Metro on 02/26/2020

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