The name Indian Head Rock comes from a carving on the bottom of the boulder with the features of a human face.
 It has been theorized that the face was carved by a Native American artist as a petroglyph, a boatman as a river gauge, or was carved by John Book from Portsmouth, Ohio who later fought in the Battle of Shiloh.
 Other theories include that a band of robbers used it to mark their nearby stash and that a quarryman carved the face with a metal device.

The first surviving historical reference to the boulder by name is from Squier and Davis's Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley (1848). "
It is familiarly known as the "Indian's Head," and is regarded as a sort of river gage or meter.
When the water-line is at the top of the head, the river is considered very low."

Newspaper reports in the 19th century referred to the boulder as the Indian Head.
In the early 20th century, it was referred to as Indian Rock, rather than Indian Head Rock.

The boulder has sometimes been called Portsmouth Indian Head Rock due to its history and proximity to the City of Portsmouth, and to disambiguate it from other "Indian Head" rocks.
The name Indian Head Rock comes from a carving on the bottom of the boulder with the features of a human face.  It has been theorized that the face was carved by a Native American artist as a petroglyph, a boatman as a river gauge, or was carved by John Book from Portsmouth, Ohio who later fought in the Battle of Shiloh.  Other theories include that a band of robbers used it to mark their nearby stash and that a quarryman carved the face with a metal device.
The first surviving historical reference to the boulder by name is from Squier and Davis's Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley (1848). "It is familiarly known as the "Indian's Head," and is regarded as a sort of river gage or meter. When the water-line is at the top of the head, the river is considered very low."
Newspaper reports in the 19th century referred to the boulder as the Indian Head. In the early 20th century, it was referred to as Indian Rock, rather than Indian Head Rock.
The boulder has sometimes been called Portsmouth Indian Head Rock due to its history and proximity to the City of Portsmouth, and to disambiguate it from other "Indian Head" rocks.
Indian Head Rock