Fairy Stone State Park, the largest of Virginia's six original state parks, is home to its namesake rare mineral crosses: "fairy stones."  The land was donated by Junius B. Fishburn, former owner of the Roanoke Times, in 1933. The Civilian Conservation Corps originally created the park, its lake and many structures still in use there.

FAIRY STONE LEGEND: Hundreds of years before Chief Powhatan’s reign, fairies were dancing around a spring of water, when an elfin messenger arrived from a city far away, bearing news of Christ's death. When the forest dwellers heard the story of the crucifixion, they wept. As their tears fell upon the earth, they crystallized to form beautiful crosses.

For many years people held these tiny crosses in superstitious awe, believing that they protected the wearer against witchcraft, sickness, accidents and disaster. Fairy stones are staurolite, a combination of silica, iron and aluminum, which crystallizes at 60 or 90 degree angles, thus the cross-like structure. Formed by great heat and pressure, the mineral was formed during the rise of the Appalachian Mountains. The stones are most commonly shaped like St. Andrew’s cross, an "X," but "T" shaped Roman crosses and square Maltese crosses are the most sought-after. The rare staurolite stones are found elsewhere, but not in such abundance as at Fairy Stone State Park.