This came from a retiring judge's chamber.  It's a map of Michigan surrounded by the Great Lakes made completely out of Petoskey stones (It's a Michigan thing).  The state is made up of cut stones in the shape of each county.  I have no idea how old it is, but it's not a teenager.  It measures about 42" across, including the 1 x 6 frame, which is connected to the 1/2" plywood the stones are fastened to.  Very very solid! It's going up for auction at the wife's charity fundraiser.  I was asked to "clean" it up and make it presentable.  Ended up refinishing the frame with acrylic latex house paint from Sherwin Williams and buffed the stones with quartz countertop polish.  Have no idea what (if anything) it'll bring, but somebody sure put a lot of time into it originally.

Edited September 17, 2025Sep 17 by honesttjohn

Someone put some effort into that getting the stones all shaped correctly, pretty cool. I'll bet it's a little heavy as well.

Edited September 17, 2025Sep 17 by Fred W. Hargis Jr

Sweet!!

1 hour ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Someone put some effort into that getting the stones all shaped correctly, pretty cool. I'll bet it's a little heavy as well.

Feels like somewhere between 70-80 pounds.  I have a couple 24" 150" mil spec French cleats coming to include if they want to mount it on a vertical surface.  Will be interesting to see what becomes of it.

John that is awesome. I love local history like this, should fetch a good penny for sure!

Besides the beauty, it's interesting that most of the counties are square (at least in the lower peninsula) , and the ones that  are not have mostly square boundaries (except of course, those on a lake shore). 

 

 

 

 

Ohio has exactly one square county, the one I grew up in. Most of the borders are lines, but zig-zag all over.  End of today's geography lesson.

That is one magnificent and unique piece. I can't imagine it not fetching a nice sum especially at a charity auction. Kudos to you and the Mrs. for your benevolence and good luck.

Could you keep us apprised of the selling price???

3 hours ago, kmealy said:

End of today's geography lesson.

Geography lesson #2:

     I noticed that the part of Ontario up in the top right-hand corner is all just rocks, which is pretty darn accurate!

31 minutes ago, FrederickH said:

Could you keep us apprised of the selling price???

If I find out.  It's a narrow field as far as who would be interested in buying, not just interested.  I'm still trying to find out more of it's history.

Edited September 18, 2025Sep 18 by honesttjohn