Petersen Rock Garden and Museum

In 1906 Rasmus Petersen moved to Redmond (four years before the city’s official incorporation) to begin an agricultural operation. An avid rock collector and notable within the geology community, Petersen amassed a significant collection of local rocks. By the mid-1930s, a sizable rock garden began to appear on his property. Over the years, acre by acre, obsidian, jasper, agates, thunder eggs, and petrified wood took form in sculptures. By the 1950s, castles, ponds, bridges, villages, and various designs of rocks covered four acres. The property became a tourist magnet, becoming one of Redmond’s best-known attractions.