Like the Roman one found at Chemtou in Tunesia;

Or it could be that the stone was standing straight up and the hole was for holding the axle of a water wheel. In which case there probably should be two stones.

How old do you think the dam was? Must have been a heck of a job if done without power tools!

I think you may be right.

Seems logical that there may be another stone with a similar hole.

It also explains why this stone was off to the side of the creek.

I'll look around more closely to see if one of the other rocks has a hole.

Not sure how old it could be.

Wished I could reach back in time and talk to the original engineer.

Is it possible it was used to hold a post upright? Maybe it was a structural part of a dam or bridge or something. It'd be fascinating to find out what it was for!

It would have to be a pretty small post --- not enough to support a bridge. I always thought it was a dynamite hole because someone once pointed a hole like that out to me as that. I have absolutely no data to support my hypothesis, though, and it doesn't really make sense --- if you drilled a hole in a big rock to put a plug of dynamite in, and the dynamite went off, the hole should be demolished, right?

If the rock is limestone, the hole could be a natural erosion passage thru rock which was relatively recently moved. If it is a dynamite hole, a rock drill would have gone deeper to place the dynamite, and the rock on top would remain relatively intact. It could be a dynamite hole for a road cut and the rubble moved for some reason, such as making the upstream ford, and then washed down in a flood. If it is sandstone, it could be waste from the manufacture of mill stones. I've even known farmers to make such a hole in rock to place a fencepost so their stock could get to water.

I thought you might have been the one who told me about dynamite holes. Thanks for the refresher --- it makes more sense now!

I think this is probably limestone. (I didn't peer at it closely when I was down there last, but it looks like it from the photos.) I like your fencepost idea, but those other rocks were clearly brought in for something too. (Our creek is rock-free.)

I come from an area where rock can sit exposed..and big. Not sure but to me it looks like a dynamite hole. They drill a hole, put in dynamite, cover with old tires connected together to stop rocks from flying everywhere then they blow it. It might have been smaller in the past but could have become more pronounced at the mouth due to erosion. Just a guess but if I were in my area and saw it I would think dynamite.

Thanks for the extra info on how people dynamite apart rocks! I agree --- this does seem to fit the bill.

I am going to take a guess at a fish catching system.The dam could have been made with a small channel to one side so fish had to travel that way and the rocks with holes were used to hold small poles that supported and kept from floating away some type of basket or small waterwheel with baskets instead of paddles or maybe some type of net.

That's a fascinating suggestion I never even considered, and one that the Native Americans could have used, possibly. Intriguing!