Technically, this is known as Barringer Crater after Daniel Barringer, the person who first suggested that it was a meteorite impact feature. It was formed 50,000 years ago by an iron-nickel meteorite 160 feet across moving at a speed of about 28,000 mph. Barringer crater is 3,900 feet in diameter and 570 feet deep. Its square shape is most likely due to the joint pattern in the underlying Paleozoic rocks.

Most of the original meteorite was vaporized upon impact, but other minerals associated with the crater, such as coesite and stishovite, represent high impact forms of quartz which cannot be formed by volcanic eruptions. The presence of these minerals discovered by Eugene Shoemaker, substantiated Barringer's earlier hypothesis that this was an impact rather than a volcanic feature. The Barringer family still owns the property and this feature is designated as a National Historic Landmark.