Petoskey Stone Fairies & Gnomes

As you walk along the beaches of northern Michigan you may find a Petoskey stone polished by the waves and sand. Michigan's state stone is a fossilized coral, Hexagonaria. The prefix "hex" means six, a perfect description for the six-sided coral. The corals grew in colonies when Michigan was covered by warm shallow seas during the Devonian Period, nearly 350 million years ago. The Petoskey stone was named in honor of Chief Ignatius Petosegay, whose name translates to "rising sun", "rays of dawn" or "sunbeams of promise".