The Devil's Rock

A Mini Rock Series Part 3

The Devil’s Rock in Stafford, NY

Once upon a time, a long long time before New York State built a Department of Transportation office on the site, in what is now Stafford, NY, the devil grew tired of causing a ruckus. He decided to take a nap beside a large rock that seemed to protrude from the grass.

A brave passerby noticed the devil snoozing and looped a chain around the boulder, and then around the devil’s neck. (One story claims the passerby was secretly an angel.) When he awoke, the devil was so furious to be so chained that he ran loops around and around the boulder, carving into the rock deeper and deeper.

Eventually he was able to break free, but only after carving the rock to look like a giant mushroom.

So goes the common lore behind the mysterious rock formation that sits in a little clearing about three miles east of downtown Batavia along Route 5.

Geologists explain the rock away as a simple sandstone glacier erratic, dropped by the last ice age, mostly buried and carved out by natural erosion and shifting ice. But to me that sounds like something the devil would want you to believe!

As for the actual chain that still remains wrapped around the outcropping and fastening by an old metal post… there appears to be no consensus on how or why it’s there. I found a picture of the rock in a local newspaper from 1950 and there’s no chain in that photo. There’s also a few pictures from the 80s and 90s with the chain, so it (and a hand written plaque that’s no longer there) appeared sometime between 1950 and 1980.

Perhaps someday the rock base will become so thin that it will topple over. Perhaps the devil is still secretly running with the chain. Or perhaps, the highway department will accidentally run a plow over it!

Whatever happens, next time you’re passing through, have a look. You can park in the highway department office lot. The rock is located on the west side of the building down a small hill at the end of the fence. Just be sure to respect highway department property.