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Home > California > CA - Quarry Links & Photographs > Napa County > List of Stone Quarries
(* Please note this list does not include sand or gravel quarries.)
"Brown Quarry; Mrs. Marguerite Myers, Fairfield, owner; 2 miles southeast of Calistoga. There are two quarry faces; the older one was abandoned, as it became too soft. The new face is one fourth of a mile nearer town and is more uniform in character, being a hard, coarse, yellowish trachyte. It outcrops in large boulders and larger stone is obtainable. It has been used to a considerable extent locally as a building stone."
"Brown Quarry, Mrs. M. Myers, Fairfield, owner. It is 2 miles southeast of Calistoga, and was originally part of the Nettie Brown ranch. The stone is trachytic tuff and has been used locally for building purposes. No production has been made for several years past.
"Bibl.: Bull. 38, p. 155."
"Connors Quarry or 'Cement Rock Pit,' N. Connors, Calistoga, owner. It is in the western part of Calistoga, on the side of a hill running southeasterly. The material is a tough, clay-like part, volcanic ash or tuff, and has been used locally for a number of years as a road dressing. It is said to pack quite hard after wetting."
"Howell Mountain Quarry; H. Overacker, Jr., St. Helena, owner. This quarry is about 3 miles northeast of Calistoga. The stone is a light yellow trachytic tuff, and occurs in large boulders. It can be obtained in large pieces and is suitable for large buildings. It was used in the front wall of the postoffice at St. Helena."
"Howell Mountain Quarry, H. Overacker, St. Helena, owner. This quarry of trachytic tuff is on the east side of the ridge, elevation 750 feet, on the Glendale ranch, 3 miles northeast of St. Helena. From it, stone of fair-sized dimensions has been taken. Stone from this quarry was employed in the new St. Helena High School building erected in 1912...."
"Bibl.: R. IX, p. 291; XIII, p. 640; Bull. 38, p. 156."
"Linscott Quarry; Mr. O. H. Linscott, Calistoga, owner; 2 miles southeast of Calistoga, on the St. Helena road. The rock is a light yellow trachytic tuff, and grades from a fine-grained, nearly white rock on the north side of the quarry to a coarse, yellowish stone on the south side. It furnishes a very good stone for bridge or foundation work, but a large amount of waste is necessary in getting out building stone, and no very large dimension stone is obtainable."
"Linscott Quarry, L. C. Martin, Calistoga, owner. This quarry, 2 miles southeast of Calistoga, on the St. Helena road, has been idle for about 10 years. The stone is trachytic tuff.
"Bibl.: Bull. 38, p. 156."
"Pickett Quarry; C. N. Pickett, Calistoga, owner; about 1 ¼ miles east of Calistoga. The rock is a light-yellowish trachyte and has been used as a building stone in Calistoga."
"Pickett Quarry, C. N. Pickett, Calistoga, owner. No stone (tuff) has been taken from this quarry for about 10 years past. It is 1 ¼ miles east of Calistoga.
"Bibl.: Bull. 38, p. 157."
"Rose Quarry; Dave Willis, Calistoga, owner; 2 miles east of Calistoga. The stone is a trachytic tuff and has been used in bridge construction, but is rather too soft, tending to flake when exposed to the action of frost. It is suitable for foundation construction where protected from the weather."
"Rose Quarry, D. C. Willis, Calistoga, agent. This was originally a part of the Brown ranch. It has been idle for about ten years past. The stone is trachytic tuff.
"Bibl.: Bull. 38, p. 157."
"About ½ mile west of the Corona quicksilver mine, northeast of Calistoga, is a body of light colored volcanic tuff, some of which was quarried for building purposes at the Corona. It did not weather well, as it was too soft."
"Williams. There is a small quarry on the Williams place north of Calistoga."
"There is steatite and serpentine in Chiles Valley, northeast of Rutherford. There is a specimen of steatite (soapstone) in the museum of the State Mining Bureau, from Fir Hill ranch, 2 miles west of Chiles post office." As of 1914, this deposit was undeveloped.
"There is columnar basalt in Clark's Canyon, 12 miles west of Napa, Charles Clark, Napa owner...." As of 1914, this deposit was undeveloped.
"There is sandstone in Maxwell Canyon, Pope Valley, 15 miles north of Rutherford, on the Maxwell and Hardin Ranches; also in Gordon Valley, 11 miles east of Napa." As of 1914, this sandstone deposit was undeveloped.
"There is columnar basalt in Clark's Canyon, 12 miles west of Napa, Charles Clark, Napa owner; also on the east slope of Mt. St. Helena, 6 miles west of Kellogg." As of 1914, this deposit was undeveloped.
"There are specimens of onyx marble in the museum of the State Mining Bureau, from a locality formerly called 'Zem Zem,' near Knoxville. The deposit is not developed. There are calcareous springs near-by.
"Bibl.: Bull. 37, p. 111; Bull. 38, p. 369; W. Anderson (op. cit.), p. 369; U.S.G.S., Walter Sup. Pap. 338, p. 268."
"Pheland Quarry, about 4 mile south of Monticello, on the west side of Berryessa Valley. The stone is a bluish-gray sandstone, and was used in the construction of the bridge across Putah Creek, 2 miles south of Monticello. This bridge has three 75-foot spans and cost $20,000."
"Phelan Quarry. This sandstone quarry, 4 miles south of Monticello on the west side of Berryessa Valley, has been idle for several years.
"Bbl.: Bull. 38, p. 132."
Napa (south of), Napa County, California - the Basalt Rock Company Incorporated (Rock and Pumice Quarry & Block Plant) (from “Mines and Mineral Resources, Napa County,” by Fenelon F. Davis, Assistant Mining Engineer, California State Division of Mines, Manuscript submitted for publication September 1947, in California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 44, No. 2, April 1948, State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, pp. 159-188. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)
Basalt Rock Company, Incorporated *
Location: Parts of secs. 22, 23, and 24, T. 5 N., R. 4 W., M. D. (projected); 2 ½ miles south of Napa on Highway 29, and 1 mile east of the Napa River.
Officers: A. G. Streblow, president; E. Brovelli, secretary; John Anderson, controller; J. Kay, superintendent of block plant; J. F. Cassani, superintendent of rock quarry; Carl Butler, Superintendent pumice quarry; Napa, California.
(* Footnote 38, pp. 184: Averill, C. V., Mineral resources of Napa County: California Div. Mines Rept. 25, p. 216, 1929.)
“The present rock-quarry operations are being conducted on the lower-most knob of a long northwestward-trending finger ridge of volcanic rock extending out of the southern end of the Howell Range. This knob rises to a height of 500 feet above the valley floor. The rock is part of a basalt lava flow, very dark, dense and tough. There is no overburden. In a few places the soil reaches a maximum of 1 to 2 feet, and here the surface is brushy. The brush is removed with a grubber before blasting.
“Ordinarily a quarry face 100 to 200 feet in height is carried, and such was the case in the old quarry about a quarter of a mile east of the present operations. Lack of uniformity, the development of too much scoria, local variations typical of surface flows, and the resultant high cost of sorting and handling, forced the abandonment of that site. At the present time (January 1947) two 40-foot benches are carried and a third bench is being opened. The upper face is about half a mile long, reaching a height of 40 feet near the center, and tapering off to about 15 feet toward the south end. It is traversed by joints in many directions. As a result the rock is ‘blocky’ and breaks readily. A persistent horizontal or near-horizontal trend is discernable, which separates the face into layers ranging from 1 inch to 6 feet in thickness, and gives the appearance of bedding when viewed from a distance. No other definite direction of jointing could be determined. Various points along the face provide rocks for several different uses.
“The former system of breaking rock through wagon drill holes has been abandoned for the well-drilled method. The holes are drilled vertically by a portable drilling rig of the percussion type, on an even spacing along a line behind and parallel to the face. In this way a relatively vertical free face can be blasted. The size, spacing, and depth of the holes vary with the height of the face blasted. These factors may be subject to a little experimentation until the desired type of fragmentation is obtained. As many as 14 holes have been fired simultaneously, with 20 to 40 percent Trojan explosives, depending on conditions. Usually enough rock is broken down to supply the shovels for 6 weeks.
“The rock blasted down is sorted by two shovels, one 5-cubic-yard electrically operated crawler-mounted Bucyrus Erie, and one 3-cubic-yard crawler-mounted Northwest diesel. These shovels stockpile the ‘caprock’ (3- to 8-ton rock with one side flat), and the ‘face-rock’ or ‘A rock’ (1- to 5-ton rock), just below the working level and load the remaining fragments into Euclid end-dump trucks which haul to the crushing plant about a quarter of a mile distant. The trucks carry a maximum load of 15 tons and are equipped with wear-resisting, longitudinally ribbed bottoms. On breakwater contracts the ‘caprock’ and ‘face-rock’ are trucked to the Napa River, transferred to 1000-ton barges by crane, and shipped to the delivery point.
“Reduction operations are conducted in a modern electrically operated plant erected about 5 years ago and designed for three-stage crushing. It has a maximum capacity of 2500 tons per 8-hour day. The quarry trucks dump into a 5- by 12-foot Traylor-Sheridan (eccentric) feeder set on a 25° slope feeding a 48- by 60-inch Traylor jaw crusher. This primary crusher discharges a 28- by 42-inch product onto a 48-inch inclined conveyor belt about 25 feet long, conveying to a grizzly over the secondary crusher.
“The secondary is a 4-foot Traylor gyratory crusher making a maximum 20-inch product on 30-inch belt conveyor about 250 feet long, discharging onto a 5- by 14-foot double second screen. The oversize is returned on a 24-inch belt conveyor to a 3-foot Traylor gyratory crusher set at 1 ¾ inches. This product is reconveyed to the screens on the 30-inch belt where the final products are made and emptied into the bunkers below.
“Three end products are produced by the screens, namely: 0- to 5/8-inch, 5/8- to 1 ½-inch, 1 ½- to 2 ¼-inch. These are standard-sized products and are removed by truck from the bunkers to stockpiles on the premises where reserves of from 20,000 to 50,000 tons are maintained. A standby Niagara screen may be operated above the bunkers whenever special products such as 3/8- to ¾-inch are required.
“The bunkers are also the locus of a ‘pug’ mill. This mill consists of a Fairbanks weigher and mixer for making slurry used as a road base beneath asphalt. The slurry is made as required, loaded directly to trucks and hauled to the job under contract.
“Power requirements total about 700 horsepower, ranging from 25 horsepower on the conveyor belts to 150 horsepower on the large Westinghouse motor running the primary crusher.
“Adjoining the three-stage crusher is a ‘grizzly plant’ capable of making special products as needed. No oversize is produced in this plant. The large fragments are separated as ‘B-rock’ or two-man rock (200 to 2000 pounds), and ‘Engineers rock’ or ‘one-man’ rock (25 to 150 pounds). The balance of the feed is separated by a three-stage 5- by 15-foot inclined rotary screen making products as follows: 4- to 7-inch, 1 ½ to 4-inch, and minus 1 ½ inch. The flow in this plant is from quarry truck dumping to inclined chute set with chain feeder and tuning-fork grizzly, then to screen and local bunkers.
“Although an attempt is made to concentrate on certain standard products, the reduction plant is designed for a large degree of flexibility and can be adapted to fill the size specifications of any contract. The list of products which the company can supply includes all types of crushed rock, riprap fill material, river sand, plaster sand, ready-mix concrete, building bricks (grade A testing 1000 pounds per square inch, and grade B testing 750 pounds per square inch), natural and reinforced hollow building blocks, and many special contract materials. Shipment can be made by truck, rail, or water.
“Building-Block Plant. The Basalt Rock Company, Incorporated, operates a building-block plant about half a mile west of the quarry on the east edge of Highway 29 for the manufacture of concrete and light-weight building blocks, bricks, and other structural shapes both in standard and special contract sizes. The light-weight blocks contain a pumice aggregate and are sold under the trade name ‘Basalite.’
“Washed pumice or concrete aggregate from the stockpiles is trucked half a mile and dumped into a 9-cubic-yard hopper at ground level. The hopper empties vertically onto a 200-foot shielded belt conveyor inclined at an angle of 15°. The feed end is set in a small underground room. The aggregate is elevated to bunkers at the top of the plant and drawn into any one or all of three mixing machines where sand and/or cement is added. The mixers discharge into Besser vibrapac block-making machines set vertically below. The blocks are removed on trays to loading racks and transported by ‘scooters’ to the steam curing sheds, where they remain for 14 hours in summer and 24 hours in winter. They are then stacked in the curing yard, where they remain for 28 days. They are then ready for delivery.
“One Besser machine turns out 10 standard blocks per minute, and an output of 280,000 blocks per month can be maintained. The standard building block is 8 by 8 by 16 inches, and the light-weight block weighs about 31 pounds. These blocks withstand a pressure of about 1400 pounds per square inch; water absorption is 13 ½ to 14 ½ pounds per cubic foot. The present (1947) selling price is $210 per thousand.
(Please note: The information on the Asphalt Plant and Shipyard will not be presented here.)
"Basalt Rock Company. About 2 ½ miles south of Napa on State Highway 29 and a mile southeast of the sanitarium, is the large pit of the Basalt Rock Company of Napa. Work began here in 1921 as a hand operation. The first plant, which was build in 1923, was replaced by the present one about 1942.* Much of the rock quarried is a gray Porphyry with feldspar phenocrysts. Some of it breaks easily and is in layers 3 or 4 inches thick separated by rusty seams. Much of it, however, is more massive and stronger. There is a smaller amount of massive, very hard, asphanitic, basalt. Conspicuous joints cut the flows.
(* Page 108 footnote 97: Averill, C. V., Napa County: California Div. Mines Rept. 25, pp. 239, 240, 1929. Davis, F. F., "Mines and mineral resources of Napa County," California Jour. Mines and Geology, vol. 44, pp. 184-187, 1948.)
"The flows that are worked lie on beds of tuff and scoria. To the south they consist of beds of moderately consolidated earthy brown ash full of angular fragments of pumice, obsidian, scoria, and lava. Farther north the underlying beds change to a black glassy material containing closely spaced feldspar crystals, and farther still a massive dull red material with streaks of black glass appears. Between these underlying beds and the lava, there is a transition zone a foot thick resembling baked soil.
"The present quarry consists of a series of benches made by blasting churn-drill holes. The rock, as blasted, contains large masses that require secondary blasting. Rock of varying quality is taken from different parts of the quarry. Approximately half a mile to the east is another large quarry which has now been abandoned.
"The crushing and screening plant contains a primary jaw crusher which feeds a gyratory. The product of the gyratory crusher is treated on double-decked screens which produce several sizes. The oversize from these screens is reduced by a second gyratory and then rescreened. There is also a simpler plant consisting of a grizzly and trommel.
"The product of the gyratory crusher is treated on double-decked screens which produce several sizes. The oversize from these screens is reduced by a second gyratory and then rescreened. There is also a simpler plant consisting of a grizzly and trommel."
"Bachelder Quarry, C. S. Bachelder, Napa, owner. It is on the eastern edge of the city, at an elevation of 100 feet (U.S.G.S.), and ¾ mile from tidewater. The rock is a reddish rhyolite, in part compact, fine-grained, felsitic, and in portions of the deposit partly altered by devitrification and leaching. The quarry was opened up in 1908. The crushing and screening equipment, driven by gasoline engine, has a capacity for handling 125 tons per nine-hour day. No rock was taken out in 1913. The product is used for road and concrete work."
"Buck Ranch. Rock for county road work was quarried from the Buck ranch, southwest of Napa, in 1911."
"Errington Quarry, George E. Errington, Napa, owner. This quarry, about 1 mile east of the railroad station at Napa, produces crushed rock for road metal and concrete work. The crushing plant has a capacity of 100 cubic yards per day, and is driven by a gasoline engine. Four sizes of product are made. It is operated only about six months per year, principally in the summer season. Fourteen men are employed when in full operation. The rock is rhyolite similar to that at the Bachelder quarry, north of this.
"Bibl.: Bull. 38, p. 320."
"Gardner Sandstone Quarry, in Sec. 22, T. 6 N., R. 3 W.; Mrs. Sara T. Gardner, Napa, owner. Located 12 miles northeast of Napa, in Wooden Valley. The stone is a light buff, fine-grained sandstone. It occurs in beds dipping slightly to the north, and ranging from 2 to 4 feet in thickness, as is shown in exposures in the creek bottom. About 600 tons of this sandstone has been used in building bridges in the vicinity; it was taken from small outcroppings only, and no regular quarry face has been opened."
"Gardner Quarry, W. G. Gardner, Napa, owner. This sandstone quarry is in Wooden Valley about 10 miles northeast of Napa. The stone is a light buff in color, and fine-grained; and has been used principally building bridges in the vicinity, though some has also been used for road metal. Idle in 1913.
"Bibl.: R. XIII, p. 636; Bull. 38, p. 131."
"Harrington Quarry, one-half mile east of Napa, on the property adjoining the cemetery. The rock is a brecciated tuff, and for many years has been used for macadamizing the streets of Napa."
"Harris Ranch. The county has contracted for about 15,000 cubic yards of crushed rock for road work in 1914 to be taken from the Henry Harris ranch southwest of Napa."
(Manual Quarry - See: Napa (southeast of), Napa County, California - Newman Trachytic Tuff Quarries below.)
"Napa Sandstone Quarry, 5 ½ miles west of Napa, in Park Cañon, on the Brown Valley road; D. L. Beard, Napa, owner. It was first opened in 1901, and the stone was used in the construction of the Behlow Block in Napa. No large dimension stone is obtainable, as the beds are extensively fractured."
"Newman Quarry; operated by J. B. Newman, Napa; about 1 ½ miles southeast of Napa, on the Soscolor Vallejo road. The stone is a light-gray trachyte and grades into a bluish, close-grained basaltic trachyte, showing flow structure. It occurs in a bedded deposit, and the rock varies within a few feet. It is used as a building stone for bridges and foundation work.
"In the field adjoining the State Hospital grounds on the south side, there are numerous low outcrops of a wine-colored trachytic tuff which are being dug from the earth and split into small building stones, principally used as a decorating material in buildings constructed mainly of lighter colored tuffs."
"Newman Quarries (see also Wing). J. B. Newman, Napa, owns two quarries of trachytic tuff; one, on the Berryessa road, 5 miles northeast of Napa, and the other back of the state asylum, 3 miles southeast of Napa (the latter formerly known as Manuel). Both are at an elevation of about 700 feet (U.S.G.S.). The stone is only rough, quarry-dressed, as it is coarse and used only for bridges and foundation work. The quarry near the asylum has not been operated recently.
"Bibl.: R. X, p. 361; XIII, p. 640; Bull. 38, p. 157."
(Olsen Quarry - See: Napa (south of), Napa County, California - Zollner Basalt and Trachyte Quarry (formerly Olsen) below.)
"Salmina Quarry, in Secs. 9 and 10, T. 6 N., R. 4 W.; 7 miles north of Napa. The stone is a soft, light-yellow tuff, and is easily sawed or cut and readily dressed. It makes a very pretty stone for interior decorations, especially for fireplaces, and is used very successfully as firebacks in stoves, being very refractory when dry."
"Salmina Quarry. Matilda Wilson, Napa, owner. It is 7 miles north of Napa, and has not been operated recently. The stone is trachytic tuff.
"Bibl.: R. XIII, p. 640; Bull. 38, p. 157."
"The Standard Portland Cement Co. has been incorporated in San Francisco, with a capital stock of $2,000,000, to erect a cement plant near Napa. Incorporators are: William J. Dingee, F. W. and W. G. Henshaw, E. J. McCutcheon, and Frank C. Havens."
"Wing's Quarry, in Sec. 19, T. 6 N., R. 3 W.; H. W. Wing, Napa, owner; 4 miles northeast of Napa, on the Berryessa road. The rock is a hard, light gray to a yellowish trachyte, with a close, even texture. It is used for bridge and foundation work. Mr. Wing used it in the construction of the bridge on Brown street, for the city of Napa. The rock is rather seamy and very much waste is entailed in securing large dimension stone."
"Wing Quarry (Newman). H. W. Wing, Napa, owner. The Wing and the Newman quarries, adjoining on the Berryessa road about 6 miles northeast of Napa, were originally one, owned by Newman & Wing. This quarry was first opened up in 1878. Elevation, 600 feet. The stone is a light, yellowish to gray, trachytic tuff, showing flow structure, so that, at a little distance, in part it resembles bedded sandstone strata. The stone here is of better quality, harder and more compact than the average of the tuff used in Napa County for buildings and bridges. The 'Little Trancas' (Milliken Creek U.S.G.S.) and the 'Big Trancas' (Napa River, U.S.G.S.) bridges north of Napa City were constructed of stone from the Wing quarry, the latter of which was just being finished when visited in September, 1913 (see photos Nos. 35 and 43). this bridge required 75,000 cubic feet of stone, and the average cost was stated to be 27 cents per cubic foot as laid in cement mortar.
"Bibl.: R. XIII, p. 640; Bull. 38, p. 158."
| Photo No. 35. "Little Trancas" bridge, near Napa, Napa County. Stone from Wing Quarry, 1908. |  |
| Photo No. 43. "Big Trancas" bridge, near Napa, Napa County. Stone from Wing Quarry, 1913. |  |
"Zollner Quarry; J. F. Zollner, Napa, owner. This quarry is located 2 ¾ miles south of Napa. The rock is a smooth, even-grained basalt, and is dark blue to black in color. On the west side of the quarry a very hard gray trachyte is quarried for building purposes by H. W. Wing of Napa."
Paving Blocks: "Mr. Errington, of Napa, hauls this stone to Napa and crushes it for macadam."
"Zollner Paving Block Quarry, formerly the Olsen Quarry. It lies about 2 ¾ miles southeast of Napa, and has been idle for the past three years."
"Zollner Quarry (formerly Olsen). Estate of J. F. Zollner, owner. It is 2 ¾ miles south of Napa, and has both basalt and a hard gray trachyte, the former of which has been utilized for paving blocks. Idle in 1913.
"Bibl.: R. XIII, p. 633; Bull. 38, pp. 158, 320, 342."
Mine name: Napa Quarry; Operator: Syar Industries, Inc.; Address & County: 2301 Napa-Vallejo Hwy., Napa, CA 94558, Napa County; Phone: (707) 224-6202; Latitude: 38.27, Longitude: -122.25, and Mine location number: Map No. 410; Mineral commodity: Stone.
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.