The Rock

The longest-lived myth at James Madison University would have to be one dealing with a huge chunk of limestone known as “Kissing Rock” on JMU's Quadrangle.

Kissing Rock hasn't been around the entire history of JMU but it has been here for most of it.

When the Quadrangle was being graded in the early 1920s for the construction of Alumnae Hall, an enormous limestone rock was unearthed. The cost of removing the huge stone would have been prohibitive so the top part of the stone was left untouched and protruding from the ground.

In the institution's early years, the female students were not allowed to be seen in the company of young men without a dorm mother present.

So they would have the time and privacy to kiss goodnight, a couple would hide behind the big rock and make out. Kissing Rock was born.

The legend expanded to include the prediction that the person you kiss at Kissing Rock will be the person you marry. There are no statistics on the prediction's accuracy, or lack thereof.