Approximately 40 years ago, the county shovel operator was digging in a gravel pit near Ward and hit something hard about 40 feet deep in the ground. This turned out to be a large petrified tree. The pieces were loaded into two dump trucks and unloaded at Ward. A large section of the trunk of the petrified tree is now located inside a fence that contains a marker with details about Ward. Located not far away beside the old Grant Store are other pieces of the large petrified tree.
Ward is in west Sumter County (see map below). This petrified tree is near the intersection of Co Rd 10 and Firehouse Road in Ward (GPS coordinates 32.362017, -88.278184).
The slider includes a picture of the marker with details about Ward.
Source: Danny Curtis (owner of the Grant Store in Ward, AL)