These strange formations have been rebuilt several times. They are not related to the stone piles.
Stone pile sleuthing
This photo of a pile of stones was taken recently near Springwater. There are over 150 stone piles in New York and PA.
Stone pile on the Robinson Loop Photo by Ed Ressler
Several hikers have asked about them. While looking through some of the items provided by Ed Sidote, Jacqui Wensich found some interesting articles on these mysterious stone piles that we occasionally see along the FLT. The oldest article was from 1981, and there were several more modern ones.
Possible conclusions about the stone piles:
They are Indians as burial mounds.
They are the remains of some form of ritual punishment akin to chain gangs.
They are cairns from the late 18th century marking property boundries.
They were constructed by traveling stone masons as storage piles so they could get stones quickly when needed.
They are the remains of baking ovens.
They were battle markers or ceremonial alters.
Irish workers trying to rid fields of stones simply dumped them in a pile.
Space aliens used them as landing markers or for other mysterious purposes. (???)
Map of Springwater showing stone piles.
Each of these theories was proposed by someone who thought it was a plausible explanation, and each has been debunked by someone else who didn't, so we don't really know what these piles were. Try typing "Stone Piles of NYS" into Google and you'll find several interesting articles.
