Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument

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US National Monument, Texas

PO Box 1460
Fritch, TX 79036
www.nps.gov/alfl/

Phone: 806-857-3151; Fax: 806-857-2319
Size: 1,371 acres. History: Authorized as Alibates Flint Quarries and Texas Panhandle Pueblo Culture National Monument on August 21, 1965; redesignated November 10, 1978. Location: On the Texas Panhandle, 30 miles north of Amarillo and just southwest of Fritch, off TX 136. Adjoins Lake Meredith National Recreation Area (see separate entry for description). Facilities: Contact station. Activities: Ranger-guided tours of the flint quarries. Special Features: For more than 10,000 years, pre-Columbian Indians dug agatized dolomite from quarries here to make projectile points, knives, scrapers, and other tools. The 736 largely unexcavated quarry pits located within the park reflect a long story of continuous excavation and use. Due to its unique colors and its ability to be chipped (or knapped) into sharp cutting edges, Alibates flint was highly prized and traded extensively throughout much of North America.

Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument

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Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Alibates Flint Quarries

Location	Potter County, Texas, USA
Nearest city	Amarillo
Coordinates	35°34′30″N 101°41′02″W / 35.575045°N 101.6837868°W / 35.575045; -101.6837868Coordinates: 35°34′30″N 101°41′02″W / 35.575045°N 101.6837868°W / 35.575045; -101.6837868^[1]
Area	1,371 acres (555 ha)^[2]
Authorized	August 21, 1965 (1965-Aug-21)
Visitors	3,214 (in 2011)^[3]
Governing body	National Park Service

U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Designated:	October 15, 1966
Reference #:	66000822^[4]

Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument is a U.S. National Monument in the State of Texas. For thousands of years, people came to the red bluffs above the Canadian River for flint, vital to their existence. Demand for the high quality, rainbow-hued flint is reflected in the distribution of Alibates Flint through the Great Plains and beyond. Indians of the Ice Age Clovis Culture used Alibates flint for spear points to hunt the Imperial Mammoth before the Great Lakes were formed. The flint usually lies just below the surface at ridge level in a layer up to six feet thick. Because these quarries are located on Lake Meredith, erosion of the lake made the flint more accessible to these people. The quarry pits were not very large, between 5 to 25 feet wide and 4 to 7 feet deep.^[5] Many of these quarries were exploited by the Antelope Creek people, of the Panhandle culture, between 1200 and 1450. The stone-slabbed, multi-room houses built by the Antelope Creek people have long been of interest to the public and studied by archaeologists. Today this area is protected by the U.S. National Park Service and can only be viewed by ranger-led guided tours, which must be made in advance.

Alibates Flint Quarries is the only National Monument in the state of Texas, and is an integral part of Lake Meredith National Recreation Area.

The monument was authorized as Alibates Flint Quarries and Texas Panhandle Pueblo Culture National Monument on August 21, 1965, but the designation was shortened to the current name on November 10, 1978.^[6]

References

^ "Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1377214. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
^ "Listing of acreage as of December 31, 2011". Land Resource Division, National Park Service. http://www.nature.nps.gov/stats/Acreage/acrebypark11cy.pdf. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
^ "Five Year Annual Recreation Visits Report". Public Use Statistic Office, National Park Service. http://www.nature.nps.gov/stats/viewReport.cfm?selectedReport=SystemComparisonReport.cfm. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
^ "Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument". National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/alfl/. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
^ "The National Parks: Index 2009–2011". National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/nps/nps/part2.htm#alfi. Retrieved 2012-03-18.

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National Parks	Big Bend Guadalupe Mountains

National Monuments and Memorials	Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument Chamizal National Memorial

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