Rockwall, TX – Recently, I was sent a video about Rockwall’s mysterious rock wall, the very feature that inspired the name of the community. The video, like many online conspiracy theories, claims to present “many articles” that suggest a giant human skull had been found and that iron rings had been embedded in the stone, and even mentions the discovery of a 25-foot iron bed and other artifacts along the wall. Intrigued by the curiosity of the person who sent me the video, I decided to dive into this century-long conspiracy.
The roots of this tale can be traced back to an article published in 1886, which indeed made it into print. Here’s the full text of that article, from the Rockwall Success, the county’s first newspaper:
“The greatest wonders that we have to record this week is the finding of a petrified human skull. While at work last Saturday, Ben Burton unearthed with his plow, a gigantic skull, fully as large as a half-bushel. The staring sockets wherein the eyeballs once rolled were as large as a half-gallon cup. Some few of the jaw-teeth still remained; one of them about an inch thick by two inches long. This goes to prove that this county was once inhabited by a race of people that would be wonderful to look at now. Dr. Wiggins thinks it the skull of some ante-deluvian giant, that would have weighed at least 1000 pounds. Anyone wishing to see this mammoth skull can do so by calling at The Success office, as Mr. Burton says he will leave it there for inspection.”
— Sam Slick
This one-off report was penned by “Sam Slick,” a name that raises eyebrows today. Interestingly, no one named Sam Slick lived in Rockwall County at that time. “Sam Slick” was a fictional character created by author Thomas Chandler Haliburton, known for satirical columns about Nova Scotia residents. The attribution of the article to “Sam Slick” suggests it may have been a playful nod or a new author using the character’s name to report on the mythical discovery.
When we consider the context of 1886, a time when the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad was arriving and locals were eager to attract business, we can see how the article might have been intended to pique interest in Rockwall or even poke fun at the growing small community. The arrival of the railroad transformed the town into a crucial shipping point for local agricultural products, spurring growth and elevating Rockwall’s status as a commercial hub.
As the decades passed, many who grew up hearing about the giant skull likely began searching for evidence to validate this satirical piece. By 1936, coinciding with the Texas Centennial, a section of the rock wall was excavated and opened to visitors for a small fee. However, there is no photographic or credible record from that time that supports the existence of the skull or any artifacts purportedly found.
However, for the sake of argument, let’s entertain the notion that the skull and the artifacts mentioned in the video were real. The dimensions involved still don’t add up to support the idea that giant humans once roamed Texas. The giant skull was said to be the size of a half-bushel basket, approximately 14 inches in diameter. If we scale that up, we’d estimate the dimensions of this supposed skull to be around 19.8 inches tall and 14 inches wide. By the average height-to-head ratio, this would make the giant human approximately 12.3 feet tall.
In the video and on obscure websites, there are claims of a 25-foot iron bed being discovered. This seems unreasonable, as it would be more than twice the necessary length for our hypothetical giant. Additionally, a 12-foot-long battle axe supposedly found would be disproportionate, equating to a weapon almost the same length as the giant itself.
The video also mentions windows and alignments with the sun, yet none of these claims have been substantiated by archaeological explorations of the wall. Geologists have concluded that the Rockwall formation is a natural geological feature known as a “sandstone dike,” despite its seemingly symmetrical shape. Symmetry in nature is a rather common occurrence. In fact, nature tends to prefer symmetry and simplicity, with many examples noted in this Oxford report.
Long after the mythical giant skull faded into obscurity, renowned scientists took an interest. In 1925, Dr. R.S. Hyer, a former president and physics professor at SMU, concluded that the formation was indeed natural. By 1927, both L.W. Stephenson and J.W. Fewkes from the Smithsonian Institute echoed this assessment.
Nevertheless, the conspiracies continued to thrive. By the mid-1900s, a “Mr. Sanders” from Fort Worth reportedly excavated the area and claimed to have found stones inscribed with runic characters. While there was a Mr. Sanders who conducted an excavation, the Rockwall County Museum describes him as a layman whose excavation yielded rocks averaging 12-14 inches thick—far from the sensational finds claimed online.
Adding fuel to the fire, an architect-turned-hobby archaeologist, John Lindsey, claimed in 1996 to have compiled evidence of a prehistoric structure built by humans. However, experts disagreed with his assessments.
Despite the intrigue surrounding the rock wall, research eventually revealed that the natural bricks share uniform magnetization. In 2021, geologists at the University of Texas at Dallas tested the formation’s magnetism and discovered that its magnetic orientation was consistent, indicating that the rock formed simultaneously. If the wall were made of individual “bricks,” each would exhibit random orientations.
If you’re still curious about the rock wall, I encourage you to visit the Rockwall County Museum and see pieces of the wall for yourself. While the mystery may never be fully unraveled, the journey through history and myth continues to captivate our imaginations.
