|
|
|
Home > California > CA - Quarry Links & Photographs > Fresno County
"Limestone is found in large quantities in T. 12 S., R. 26 E.; T. 12 S., R. 27 E.; T. 12 S., R. 29 E. It extends for several miles in length, with an average width of 1 ½ miles. The limestone in this section is of good quality and years ago considerable of it was burned, but nothing is being done with it of late years, owing to its distance from a market."
"Fresno County was created April 19, 1856, and up to 1893 included the territory in Madera County. In the early days, Millerton, now abandoned, near Friant, was the county seat. It is still among the larger counties of the State, having an area of 5977 square miles, or nearly three times that of the State of Delaware. Madera and Merced counties are on its north, Mono and Inyo on the east, Tulare and Kings on the south, with San Benito, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo adjoining it on the west. The San Joaquin River separates Fresno from the first named county, and the eastern boundary runs along the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Along this line are numerous peaks exceeding 13,000 feet in elevation above sea-level, among which may be mentioned Mt. Abbott, 13,736 feet; Bear Creek Spine, 13,705 feet; Mt. Humphreys, 13,972 feet; Mt. Darwin, 13,841 feet; Mt. Powell, 13,361 feet; Agassiz Needle, 13,882 feet; Mt. Winchell, 13,749 feet; North Palisade, 14,254 feet; Middle Palisade, 14,049 feet; Mt. Pinchot, 13,471 feet, and University Peak, 13,588 feet. At the Kearsarge Pass the trail to Independence in Inyo County crosses the divide at an elevation of 11,823 feet. The western boundary of the county follows along inside the first line of ridges of the Diablo Range, just back from the edge of the San Joaquin Valley.
"The main drainage systems of Fresno County are those of the San Joaquin and Kings rivers and their branches. Much has been written and much more could be written of the wonder and rugged grandeur of the Sierran streams, canyons, cliffs, peaks and snowfields, delightful camping spots and unexcelled trout fishing - but they are here merely mentioned in passing. The streams of the western side of the county are only seasonal creeks, being dry in summer and lost sight of in the valley flats, except in times of exceptional winter rains.
"In the valley proper, with water drawn from the San Joaquin and Kings River systems (principally the latter), over 400,000 acres of land are under irrigation. The various systems serving the county comprise some 450 miles of main ditches, with capacity exceeding 6000 cubic feet per second; also about 5000 miles of distributing canals. Water is sold at the rate of 62 ½ and 75 cents an acre yearly (circa 1914). The census of 1910 showed 888 pumping plants in the county, with a capacity of 515,380 gallons per minute, and the cost varies from $1.50 to $4 per acre. The number of pumping plants has increased rapidly since 1910. The Hume-Bennett Lumber Company, with a 75-mile flume, utilizing water from the Kings River, transports lumber from its mill at Hume to the railroads at Sanger. Its production is approximately 35,000,000 feet per year. The Fresno Flume and Lumber Company, with mills of an equal capacity at Shaver, ship via a 45-mile flume to Clovis. The water discharged from these flumes at their terminals is used for irrigation in the valley.
"As to power for mining, industrial and agricultural purposes, this territory is well provided. Besides the electrical power lines, many pumps for irrigating are driven by distillate engines and some by crude oil, the proximity of the oil fields at Coalinga being an advantage. The San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation distributes 40,000 horsepower in Fresno County, provided by two hydroelectric plants in Madera County and a steam plant in Fresno. Its main transmission is at 60,000 volts to its substations. In addition this company has power plants in Kern County. The Pacific Light and Power Company, though it does not distribute any power in Fresno County, has two hydroelectric plants on Big Creek, a branch of the San Joaquin River. These two plants are each ultimately to have 60,000-kilowatts capacity, one half of which being at present installed and in operation. No. 1 plant.at Cascada (Big Creek post office), operates with a static head of 2104 feet (950 pounds per square inch), gauge pressure at the water wheels); while No. 2 plant, 5 miles below, has a 1900-foot head. The power is taken through to Los Angeles by a 150,000-volt transmission with aluminum cables on steel towers."
"The county is traversed by two transcontinental railroad systems - the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe. There are six oil pipe lines transporting crude oil from and through Fresno County. The Associated Oil Company has two 8-inch lines to Port Costa and a 6-inch line to Monterey. The Standard Oil Company has two 8-inch lines to Point Richmond, and the Producers Transportation Company has an 8-inch line to Port Harford. The Shell Oil Company is building an 8-inch line to Martinez.
"The farm, fruit and lumber products of Fresno County at the present time (circa 1914) total about $30,000,000 in value annually. Its total mineral product for 1913 was valued at $8,438,810. The total recorded mineral output of the county to the end of 1913.is $67,669,637, from which we have deducted $1,375,000 gold and silver yielded from 1880-1892 by the territory then in Fresno, but now a part of Madera County. This leaves a net value of $66,294,637. The products in order of their value to date are: petroleum, stone industry, copper, brick, gold, magnesite, mineral water and silver, with asphaltum, chrome, clay, coal, gypsum, gems, natural gas, and quicksilver, making up the list, combined under 'miscellaneous and unapportioned.' In addition, occurrences are known of asbestos, marble, pumice, limestone and tungsten, but they are as yet undeveloped."
Stone Industry (in Fresno County).
"Under this heading for the purpose of simplifying the statistical reports, the State Mining Bureau now classifies the following closely allied branches of the mineral industry: granite, paving blocks, macadam, concrete, rubble and crushed rock of all kinds, sand and gravel. In the earlier reports these materials were handled separately, but from the standpoint of the producer there is so much overlapping it has been found more satisfactory to group them."
(The following information is taken from the table on the insert page after page 432 entitled, "Fresno County - Table of Mineral Production." )
Stone Industry Production in Fresno County (stone only):
1903: $11,038
1907: $10,500
1908: $16,900
1909: $28,400
1910: $58,089
1911: $318,911
1912: $307,158
1913: $416,437
Total: $1,167,433
"Fresno County, fourth in importance as a mineral producer among the counties of California, reported an output for 1919 of eleven mineral substances, with a total value of $21,643,898, an increase over the reported 1918 production, which was worth $19,876,625. The great bulk of the above is derived from the petroleum production of the Coalinga field.
"The mineral resources of this county are many, and, aside from crude oil, are in the main not yet fully developed. They include asbestos, barytes, brick, chromite, copper, gems, gold, graphite, gypsum, magnesite, natural gas, petroleum, quicksilver, and miscellaneous stone.
"Commercial production for 1919 was as follows:"
(Headings for the information below are: Substance, Amount, and Value.)
Gold, ---, $5,000 (estimated)
Granite, ---, $34,500
magnesite, 600 tons, $5,950
Natural gas, 5,191,287 M cu. ft., $411, 356
Petroleum, 16,091,037 bbls., $20,805,711
Silver, $40 (estimated)
Stone, miscellaneous, ---, $241,213
Other minerals,* ---, $140,128
(Total value) $21,643,898(* Includes chromite and brick.)
| Fresno County, 1916 Map, from California Mineral Production for 1919 (with County Maps), Bulletin No. 88, by Walter W. Bradley, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco: California State Printing Office, 1920, pp. 191. (Note: this map is a 452K) |  |
"Limestone occurs in a variety of forms in this county and is widely distributed. Marl deposits have been found in the younger formations both on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley and on the coast Range side. Hard limestone and marble deposits are quite numerous in the eastern foothills and in the higher parts of the Sierra Nevada. South and southeast of Fresno much of the valley land is underlain at a depth of 3 feet or more by 'white hardpan' in which the cementing material is calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate. These carbonates were derived from the soil above. Marl occurs in the Mount Campbell district and the adobe soil over an area of several thousand acres surrounding Mount Campbell is mostly underlain by a light-colored marly material which is generally 6 feet or more below the surface, but in places is found at a depth of only 1 foot. Much of this marl has been sold.
"In early days there was some production of lime in the county, as evidenced by the record of shipment of $20,000 worth from Fresno in 1880. The source from which it came was not given, but it was probably from deposits near Dunlap and Alcalde, where kilns were still in operation in the late eighties. From 1931-39, marl was produced from deposits near Reedley and Minkler. During the present year the production of crushed limestone for poultry grits, stock feed, and foundry use has begun at a deposit a few miles north of Watts Valley. Except for the above, there has been no recent production of lime or limestone in the county.
"Many occurrences of scheelite were found in Fresno County during the last war, along the contacts of granodiorite and metamorphosed limestone. These are listed herein to make the record of limestone deposits as complete as possible although some are too small, too far from railroads, or too impure because of metamorphism to be valuable as sources of limestone. Most of the limestone in this part of the Sierra Nevada has been changed to marble, and is in roof pendants which are remnants of much larger areas of pre-Cretaceous sedimentary rocks. The largest area of such rocks extends from Friant on San Joaquin River east and southeast to Dunlap, a distance of about 36 miles."
(* Please note this list does not include sand or gravel quarries.)
"Montford marl deposit is on 40 acres in sec. 24, T. 21 S., R. 14 E., about a mile from Alcalde and 2 miles from Le Roy on the railroad. In the eighties lime was made nearby from a 'vein' of limestone 12 feet wide which extends across 40 acres. This limestone contains a small amount of bituminous matter."
"The Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus," by Walter W. Bradley, Field Assistant (field work in August and September, 1914), California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 427-634.)
"Ellison Bros., of Fresno, have claims located on a marble deposit on Big Creek, near that of the San Joaquin Marble Company, described (in the San Joaquin Marble Company entry below)
"Ellison Brothers marble claims on Big Creek near the San Joaquin marble deposits, have not been developed."
"San Joaquin Marble Company, Emery Wishon et al., Fresno, owners. These claims, covering 125 acres, are in Sec. 36, T. 8 S., R. 24 E., on the south side of Big Creek, 5 miles below Cascada, the terminus of the San Joaquin and Eastern Railroad. Elevation 4000 feet (U.S.G.S.) The marble is only 2000 to 3000 feet from the railroad track, and 500 feet lower in elevation. There is ample electric power at hand, as the deposit is between the two power plants of the Pacific Light and Power Company, whose main transmission line passes near-by. Only minor development work has been done as yet, but marble of good quality and the following colors is (sic) disclosed: white, blue, variegated and black. It occurs as a lens in a granite country and runs northwesterly, crossing Big Creek. Its limits were not fully determined, but it appears to be at least 200 feet wide by ½ mile long."
"J. S. Williams, M. F. Marshall, and Mr. Dubois, Fresno, owners. The rock is a dark, medium-grained granite, and is quarried from large boulders. Its dark color makes it a pretty trimming stone for structures of other stones."
"Academy Granite Company. J. S. Williams, San Jose, president; F. M. Blanchard, Fresno, manager. Office, 215 Griffith-McKenzie Building, Fresno. Quarry address, Academy post office. This quarry is in Sec. 13, T. 12 S., R. 22 E., 11 miles northeast of Clovis, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was opened up in 1903. The stone, as determined by a microscopic examination of a thin section, is a dark, hornblende diorite, but locally called 'black granite.' The color permits of a fine contrast of polished and unpolished surfaces, which makes it excellent for monumental and decorative purposes. It is medium grained, and is harder than the lighter granites such as the Raymond granite in Madera County. This makes it more expensive to cut.
"So far as uncovered (circa 1914), the stone occurs in large, rounded boulders of disintegration, the quarry cut being as yet shallow (see photo No. 82). The stone at the eastern edge of the property is darker than that on the west. Pneumatic tools are used, power being furnished by distillate engines. The dressing and polishing is done in the sheds at the quarry, except for stone sold in the rough to other dealers. The product is hauled by wagon to Clovis (see photo No. 84). The largest block shipped weighed 16,800 pounds. Ten men were employed. Stone cutters receive $5 per day and quarrymen $3. The year 1913 was not a particularly active one, but improvement is reported for 1914.
"Bibl.: Bull. 38, p. 26."
| Photo No. 82. In the quarry of Academy Granite Company, near Academy, Fresno County. |  |
| Photo No. 84. Block of stone (13,280 pounds) from Academy Granite Company, Fresno County |  |
Mine name: Academy Quarry; Operator: Raymond Granite Co.; Address & County: 14147 Tollhouse Rd, Clovis, CA 93612, Fresno County; Phone: (209) 299-7379; Latitude: 36.89, Longitude: -119.52, and Mine location number: Map No. 66; Mineral commodity: Dimension stone.
Sample of granite from the Academy Black Granite Quarry (The location is cited as being at Raymond, but the quarry is actually located in Fresno County. The stone is transported up to the Raymond Granite Quarry, also owned by Cold Spring Granite, for cutting, etc.)
"Doyle, Gill, Doyle & Company. Joseph Gill, manager. This company at Clovis operates a small 'granite' quarry near the Academy quarry, 11 miles northeast of Clovis, under lease from N. Musick. The stone is the same, black, hornblende diorite occurring as large rounded boulders of disintegration at the surface, but more massive below. At the quarry a hand-operated derrick is used, while at the cutting sheds at Clovis, pneumatic tools are employed, electricity furnishing the power. Four men were at work in the sheds, the quarry being temporarily idle when visited in August."
"Webb & Mingus calcite prospect is in sec. 12, T. 20 S., R. 13 E., 10 10 miles northwest of Coalinga on Sherman Peak. No production has been reported.”
"Dunlap. An undeveloped vein of calcite, 30 feet wide, is found near Dunlap."
"Dunlap deposits. In the eighties, a good grade of lime was made near Dunlap in the northern part of T. 14 W., R. 26 E. Two deposits supported three lime kilns which used oak wood cut nearby for fuel (Irelan, Wm. Jr. 88, p. 208).* Two of the kilns had a daily capacity of 100 barrels of lime each. The distance from railroad (over 20 miles) probably caused cessation of work. The limestone is pre-Cretaceous, interbedded with slate and mica schist in roof pendants on granitic rock."
(* William Irelan, Jr., Eighth Annual Report of the State Mineralogist for the Year Ending October 1, 1888, California Mining Bureau Report 8, 948 pp. illus., 1888.)
"Limestone occurs in T. 12 S., R. 26, 27 and 29 E., east of Trimmer, on the north side of the Kings River, also at Sampson's Flat, south of the river and north of Dunlap. Owing to their distance from a railroad these deposits are undeveloped.
"Lime was at one time burned in a shaft kiln about 1/3 of a mile south of Dunlap and near the White Cross mine, but none has been produced for several years past.
"Bibl.: R. VIII, p. 208; X, p. 185; XIII, p. 628; Bull. 38, p. 328."
Big Creek Marble Deposit - See San Joaquin Marble and Ellison Bros. (Listed in Fresno County.)
"Coral Reef Lime Products Company produced marl for 6 years, 1931-36 inclusive, from a deposit in the Minkler district 25 miles east of Fresno near the Squaw Valley road and close to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway branch line. F. M. Secrest, principal owner of the land on which the deposit was found, claimed that 125 acres was underlain by marl 4 or more feet thick.
"The marl was reached by stripping the soil overburden which varied from 6 inches to 3 feet in thickness. The upper part of the marl was then broken with a plow and mined with a scraper drawn by a tractor which delivered it to a grizzly over a loading bin from which trucks were loaded. When a ground product was desired, the marl was dumped on a belt conveyor, passed to a mill with a capacity of 100 tons daily through 40-mesh screen, and taken by another belt conveyor to a storage and loading bin. Ten men were employed.
"Of nine partial analyses of the product made by the State Department of Agriculture, the lowest showed 38.2 percent CaCO3 equivalent to the highest 55.9 percent, the average being 45.72 percent."
"The following properties were investigated or prospected during the last war for scheelite and was listed by O. P. Jenkins (42, pp. 314-316).* Marble and calc-silicate rocks may be expected with or near such scheelite deposits, but inspection of a county map will show that many of them are too far from railroads to be commercially valuable for limestone. Only one, the Red Bud, is being worked for limestone.
(* Olaf P. Jenkins, Tabulation of Tungsten Deposits of California, to accompany Economic Mineral Map No. 4, California Division of Mines Report 38, pp. 303-364, 1942.)
Benson Bros., sec. 18, T. 11 S., R. 25 E.
Big Oak, sec. 6, T. 11 S., R. 23 E.
Dixie Queen, sec. 3, T. 14 S., R. 26 E.
Emerald Peak, sec. 3, T. 9 S., R. 29 E.
Garnet Dike, sec. 22, T. 12 S., R. 27 E.
Houghton Bros., secs. 3, 4, T. 12 S., R. 26 E.
Humphreys, sec. 1, T. 11 S., R. 23 E.,
Jack Pot, sec. 15, T. 11 S., R. 24 E.
Kings River, sec. 22, T. 12 S., R. 27 E.
Kings River South Fork, secs. 6, 11, T. 13 S., R. 29 E.
Mud Lakes, sec, 36, T. 9 S., R. 26 E., sec. 30, T. 9 S., R. 27 E.
McBride, sec. 11, T. 12 S., R. 26 E.
Qualls, sec. 14, T. 9 S., R. 26 E.
Red Bud, sec. 15, T. 11 S., R. 24 E. (See: Tollhouse (near), Fresno County, CA - Red Bud Mine)
Reiss, sec. 7, T. 11 S., R. 25 E.
Sadler, sec. 19, T. 9 S., R. 27 E., sec. 19, T. 10 S., R. 26 E.
Spanish Peak, sec. 14, 15, T. 11 S., R. 24 E.
Terrill, sec. 16, 17, T. 12 S., R. 25 E.
Tungstore (Dinkey Creek), sec. 21, T. 10 S., R. 26 E.
We Hope, sec. 22, T. 10 S., R. 26 E.
"San Joaquin marble deposit is in sec. 36, T. 8 S., R. 24 E., on Big Creek. The San Joaquin & Eastern Railroad crosses the section within less than a mile of the deposit and 500 feet above it, and a road connects with the Huntington Lake highway 2 miles distant. There is also an electric power house in the northwest quarter of section 36. A. Emory Wishon et. al. at one time owned 125 acres on which the deposit occurs.
"White, blue, and black marble of good quality is reported in a lens-shaped deposit lying mostly on the south side of the creek. It is said to extend probably for half a mile in length and to be 200 feet wide."
"Twin Lakes deposit is in secs. 29, 30 T. 7 S., R. 26 E. (approx.)
"This is a deposit of pre-Cretaceous crystalline limestone changed to marble and containing several smaller bodies of calc-silicate hornfels. It has been studied in detail by C. W. Chesterman (42).* It is in the high Sierra Nevada, 3 miles north of the east end of Huntington Lake, at an elevation of 8500 to 8800 feet. As mapped, this limestone pendant is over 10,000 feet long and from 1250 and 3000 feet wide. Chesterman's article is interesting and valuable as a study particularly of the contact-metamorphic rocks formed where the Sierra Nevada batholith intruded a region deeply covered by older sediments, of which the original upper portions have been removed by erosion, including glaciation. He describes three kinds of marble for two of which partial analyses are given.
(* Charles W. Chesterman, "Contact Metamorphic Rocks of the Twin Lakes Region, Fresno County, California," California Division of Mines Report 38, pp. 243-281, map, 1942.)
"Calcite marble is most common and varies from gray banded to statuary white and skyblue. Its specific gravity is 2.69 and partial analysis was given as:
CaO, 47.42 percent
MgO, 5.92 percent
Insoluble, 1.20 percent"The dolomitic marble, usually white, gave the following partial analysis:
CaO, 33.54 percent
MgO, 27.83 percent
Insoluble, 1.43 percent"Some practically pure dolomite was mentioned as occurring with this.
"Brucite marble, 'characterized by the occurrence of small globular or spheroidal masses of brucite (MgO.H2O)' occurs in limited quantity. Chesterman explains its occurrence as due to the hydration of periclase marble which he thinks was formed in the early period of contact metamorphism.
"The examination of the region in 1942 was made with particular reference to scheelite, which occurs there in small quantities and no work was done on the marble, so far as known."
"Drake Lime Company produced marl near Minkler in 1932, 1934, and 1936. H. E. Drake was manager. Ten partial analyses of the marl were made by the State Department of Agriculture, showing a variation from a minimum of 34.8 to a maximum of 59 percent CaCO3 equivalent, with an average content of 46.31 percent."
"Kings River Quarry. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, owner, leased to the Sharp & Fellows Contracting Company, 533 Central Building, Los Angeles; John Steigh, superintendent at the quarry. The quarry is in Sec. 8, T. 13 S., R. 24 E., on the Kings River at Piedra, the terminus of the Santa Fe's branch line from Reedley. Elevation 600 feet (bar.). It was opened up in the latter part of 1910, and there is now a quarry face over 100 feet high and 1000 feet wide. The rock is a fine-grained, blue-black basalt, partly in process of serpentinization. It is broken down by bank blasting, using both the 'coyote hole' method and a drilling rig (air operated) on top of the bank. Firing is done by electricity.
"A steam shovel loads the rock onto dump cars, which are drawn by a 'dinkey' locomotive and discharged directly onto a No. 10 gyratory crusher. This crusher is driven by a 175 h.p. motor. The oversize is recrushed by smaller gyratories. The product is screened to four sizes, from 3/8 to 2 ¼ inches. Equipment included besides the crushers, belt and bucket elevators, two steam shovels and two dinkey locomotives. The shovels and locomotives burn oil, while electric power for the other parts of the plant is obtained from the San Joaquin Light and Power Company. The capacity is 1500 tons per day and an average of forty men are employed. The product is sold for road metal and concrete work and is loaded directly from the bins to the railroad cars (see photo No. 32)."
| Photo No. 32. Loading railroad cars at Kings River Quarry, Piedra, Fresno County. |  |
"Kings River deposits are in T. 12 S., R. 26, 27 E., on the north side of Kings River. Large limestone deposits have been known there for over 50 years. They have remained idle in late years as they are in mountainous country 25 miles or more northeast of Piedra, the nearest railroad point."
| Plant of the Piedra Rock and San Company at Piedra, Fresno County, showing belt conveyor equipment for loading crushed rock from stack piles. |  |
| Kings River Quarry and crusher plant of the Piedra Rock and Sand Company at Piedra, Fresno County. Capacity 1200 tons per day. |  |
"Mount Campbell Lime Company, Dinuba, produced marl from near Reedley from 1937-39. Two partial analyses made by the State Department of Agriculture indicated 46.5 and 47.6 percent CaCO3 equivalent."
"Sampson's Flat. A heavy ledge of blue limestone, suitable for the production of lime, is found at Sampson's Flat, on Kings River."
"Sampson's Flat is north of Dunlap and on the south side of Kings River. A heavy ledge of blue limestone is reported there, but so far as known has not been developed."
"Red Bud Mine. Al Feuerstein is lessee, 3863 Kerckhoff Avenue, Fresno. The production of limestone has recently been started at this property which is about 5 miles southeast of Tollhouse and 40 miles by road from Fresno. Six sizes of Poultry grits, and a seventh size for foundries are being made. Stone crushed too fine for grits is sold for use in stock food.
"The following analysis has been furnished by Feuerstein:"
CaCO3, 97.68 percent
MgCO3, 1.37 percent
SiO2, 0.55 percent
Fe and Al oxides, 0.35 percent
"Limestone occurs in T. 12 S., R. 26, 27 and 29 E., east of Trimmer, on the north side of the Kings River, also at Sampson's Flat, south of the river and north of Dunlap. Owing to their distance from a railroad these deposits are undeveloped.
"Bibl.: R. VIII, p. 208; X, p. 185; XIII, p. 628; Bull. 38, p. 328."
Commercial use of material within this site is strictly prohibited. It is not to be captured, reworked, and placed inside another web site. © . All rights reserved. Peggy B. and George (Pat) Perazzo.