Press

GREENFIELD, N.Y. -- Lester Park, one of the New York State Museum's outdoor exhibits and a world-famous fossil site, will be rededicated on Saturday, June 19 at 1 p.m.

The rededication will include a short program and a tour by State Paleontologist Dr. Ed Landing.

Roadside exhibits like Lester Park were all the rage in Victorian times. People would pack a picnic lunch and head out to a remote spot to see unusual natural history features, like the stromatolites at Lester Park. Visitors to this exhibit have an opportunity to learn about how life originated on earth.

This Saratoga County site boasts paleontological features used in textbooks and scientific papers since the 1860s as perfect examples of the marine life that existed in New York State 490 million years ago when most of the state was covered by shallow tropical seas. Dozens of college and university classes visit the site every year.

"Lester Park was one of the earliest fossil localities described in the eastern U.S. and continues to be an important teaching and research laboratory," Landing said.

Stromatolites, which mean "layered stones," were built by microscopic cyanobacteria. The wavy or round formations are among the oldest known fossils and represent the activities of organisms that produced the earth's first abundance of oxygen. The underwater plant-like organisms paved the way for the appearance of animal life and are evidence of the first life forms on earth.

"Part of our mission as a program of the State Education Department is to teach all New Yorkers about science," added Museum Director Cliff Siegfried. "Lester Park offers everyone an unusual opportunity to view some of the finest examples of stromatolites in the world."

Area Boy Scouts and Museum personnel have been busy sprucing up the stromatolite mounds by clearing moss and weeds and erecting new signs so that the public can once again enjoy this outdoor treasure.

"We encourage earth science teachers to bring their classes to Lester Park so students can get an up close look at these rare specimens," Landing said.

Willard Lester Esq. donated Lester Park, on both sides of Petrified Gardens Road in the town of Greenfield, to the state in 1914.

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Directions: From downtown Saratoga Springs take 9N west. Take a left on Middle Grove Road. Then take a left on Lester Park Road (also known as Petrified Gardens Road). Continue for about 500 feet.