West Maple Omaha Rock
41°17′26″N 96°09′32″W / 41.290605°N 96.159025°W The West Maple Omaha Rock (nicknamed Rocko,[1][2] also referred to as the west Omaha rock and similar names) is a boulder located in a parking lot at the corner of West Maple Road and North 156th Street in north-western Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It became the subject of significant online discourse as well as a local tourist attraction in late 2019 after over a dozen vehicle owners drove on top of it. This included at least six that had to be towed within six weeks. The rock was originally placed on a curb to prevent people from driving over it; however, it was sloped such that it was often not visible to taller automobiles and would get stuck between their wheels.[1][3][4][5][6] A Facebook group dedicated to the rock, "The W Maple Omaha Rock", was created by employees of a nearby UPS Store and had over 25,000 followers in November 2019; a subreddit and Google Maps listing were also created.[2]
In January 2021, the rock was repositioned such that it was no longer sloped towards the road and a tree was planted near it to catch drivers' attention.[7]
References
- ^ a b Alfonso, Fernando (November 9, 2019). "A rock in Omaha became an overnight attraction thanks to the cars that can't seem to avoid it". CNN. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ a b Wray, Meaghan (November 12, 2019). "'World famous': Omaha boulder gets 5-star Google review after cars keep driving over it". Global News. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ Wade, Jessica (October 29, 2019). "A true rock star: Cars keep getting stuck on a famous boulder in Omaha". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ Barker, Eleanor (November 12, 2019). "Rock in Omaha becomes overnight attraction thanks to the cars that can't avoid it". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ "The Northwest Omaha boulder strikes again". KETV. November 5, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ Pearson, Lileana (October 17, 2019). "Parking lot rocks cause problems for drivers at Omaha shopping plaza". WOWT. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ Pearson, Lileana (January 15, 2021). "West Omaha Rock sports changes". WOWT. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
External links
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