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Home > California > CA - Quarry Links & Photographs > San Benito > List of Stone Quarries
(* Please note this list does not include sand or gravel quarries.)
Cienega Lime Company - See: Cienega, San Benito County, California – Henry T. Cowell below.
"Henry T. Cowell, and the Holmes Lime Company, No. 22 Sacramento street, San Francisco, own large limestone quarries, near Cienega, along Thompson Creek, and in its vicinity, in Secs. 28, 29, 30, and 32, T. 14 S., R. 6 E.; also Secs. 14 and 24, T. 14 S., R. 5 E. This property was owned formerly by the Cienega Lime Company, which had several limekilns on Thompson Creek. Idle for the last six years. (See VIIIth Report, California State Mining Bureau, p. 488; XIth ibid., p. 370; XIIth ibid., p. 393; and XIIIth ibid., p. 629.)"
"Henry Cowell Lime & Cement Company, 2 Market Street, San Francisco, owns 1045 acres in secs. 28, 29, 30 and 32, T. 14 S., R. 6 E., and nearby in T. 14 S., R. 5 E., on and near Thompson Creek. The old kilns were in NE ¼ NE ¼ sec. 30 near the creek at an elevation of 1000 feet. The Cienega Lime Company worked the deposit in the eighties and nineties, and operated four small kilns. No limestone or lime has been produced since about 1900. Formerly the product was hauled to Tres Pinos, but since the removal of the railroad tracks the nearest railroad point is Hollister, 17 miles away.
"The limestone, ranging from white to gray and from fine to coarse crystalline in structure, lies directly on decomposed granitic rock which is exposed near the creek level. The limestone outcrops at intervals on the hillside above the creek over a vertical range of several hundred feet."
"Archer Lime Company was organized many years ago to work a limestone deposit in secs. 13 and 23, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., about 17 miles by road south of Hollister. The deposit has never been worked. It is now assessed to Amy R. McPhail, Hollister."
(Also see: Hollister, San Benito County, California - McPhail Limestone Deposits below.)
"Baldi and Rothschild, under the name of San Benito Quarries Co., 401 Front St., San Francisco, Cal., have a lease on a dolomite deposit on the O'Hara Ranch, which is 11 miles southwest of Hollister. Their quarry has an elevation of 1650 feet and is opened on the top and slopes of one of the rolling hills a few miles east of Gabilan Peak. The dolomite is quite pure, carrying very little silica and said to show 21.55% MgO. The overburden is very light, consisting of 1' to 4' of soil. The greater part of the dolomite shipped so far from this quarry was taken from the top of the knoll, where a pit 40' in diameter was opened. The dolomite was carried out in wheelbarrows and loaded on wagons, which hauled it to Hollister. During part of the past summer (1915) 10 men were employed at the quarry and 9 teams were kept busy hauling, the daily shipments averaging about 40 tons. In spite of the laborious method of mining and the low price obtained, a fair profit per ton is realized. The accompanying photograph shows the method of tunneling into the deposit to avoid the overburden and the upper, impure part of the bed."
| Dolomite Deposit, 11 miles from Hollister, San Benito County, showing method of tunneling into the deposit to avoid overburden and the impure upper portion of deposit |  |
(Also see: Hollister, San Benito County, California - O'Hara Ranch Dolomite Deposit below.)
"Crowe Ranch (limestone) deposits are 9 to 10 miles south of Hollister via Bird Creek and Cienega Valley road. Owner is Miss Cassie Crowe, R.F.D., Hollister. The extensive holdings include limestone rights on 1800 acres and dolomite deposits in addition to the dolomite sold in 1943 to the Permanent Corporation (see under Dolomite). The limestone includes a deposit formerly owned by American Smelting and Refining Company. The land was all part of Rancho Cienega del Gabilan, an old land grant never subdivided into sections. The deposits are 1 ½ miles west of the main road at elevations of from 800 to 2200 feet on the northeast slopes of the Gabilan Range.
"The limestone has not been developed nor prospected enough to give any definite idea of tonnage, which is large…."
"Crowe Ranch (dolomite) deposit is owned by Miss Cassie Crowe, R.F.D., Hollister. This land is part of the original grant called Rancho Cienega del Gabilan and lies west of the Bird Creek road 7 ½ to 9 miles south of Hollister, rising into the Gabilan Range west of Vineyard School. In 1943, a dolomite deposit on this land was prospected by and was sold to Permanent Metals Corporation.
"In addition the remaining Crowe holdings covered limestone rights on 1800 acres including a deposit formerly owned by American Smelting & Refining Company and a deposit of 'sandy' dolomite estimated by the owner to contain 300,000 tons."
"A. J. Fazzi, of Hollister (San Francisco office, No. 1017 Crocker Building), has a lease on a dolomite deposit on the E. L. Martin ranch 8 miles southwest of Hollister. Preparations are being made (June 1916) to ship material from this deposit…."
"Hamilton (Scott Ranch) (limestone) deposit is on the slope of Mount Hanlon (locally called also Mount Harlan) about 17 miles south of Hollister by the Bird Creek and Cienega Valley road, in sec. 23, T. 14 S., R. 5 E. (approximate). A. E. Hamilton and associates, Box 621, Hollister, have been interested in this deposit for some time. From 1930-32, Hamilton produced and sold lime and limestone. He claims to have here a large deposit of good grade. The following analysis was reported made by Smith, Emery and Company August 12, 1936:"
SiO2, 0.14 percent
Al2O3, 0.10 percent
Fe2O3, 0.02 percent
CaO, 54.19 percent
MgO, 0.84 percent
Loss on ignition, 44.34 percent
Purity as CaCO3, 96.72 percent"A. E. Hamilton (dolomite deposit), Box 621 Hollister, has been producing dolomite since 1937 from the deposit formerly worked by A. A. Haskins on land assessed to Anglo-California National Bank about three-quarters of a mile by road southwest of Vineyard and 10 miles southwest of Hollister. Hamilton's lease covers 78.86 acres. Dolomite has been worked in open quarries. Much of it comes from the deposit broken rather fine so that as much as 50 percent is screened before sending the balance through a No. 2 Hammer Mill. There is a 4- by 8-foot pan feeder and 4- by 5-foot scalper screen. For steel-plant use sizes through ¾-inch or preferably 5/8-inch and retained on 6-mesh are desired.
"There is generally an overburden of 3 feet or less of soil on the deposit. The dolomite is pure white and high grade. Both to the east and west it merges into silicified dolomitic limestone, and the total length of marketable dolomite is uncertain, but is possibly 500 feet. The following is an analysis made by Smith, Emery & Company, San Francisco:"
Insoluble (SiO2), 0.17 percent
Iron oxide (Fe2O3), 0.11 percent
Alumina (Al2O3), 0.36 percent
Manganese, 0.006 percent
Titanium, none
Lime (CaO), 31.00 percent
Magnesia (MgO), 21.23 percent
Loss on ignition (CO2), 47.30 percent
| Plate 8-A. Hamilton Dolomite Quarry, San Benito County, California. (Originally Vol. 43, Plate 8.) |  |
| Plate 8-B. Hamilton Dolomite Quarry Mill. |  |
"Harlan limestone deposit in secs. 23, 24, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., about 17 miles south of Hollister, was worked 40 years ago by U. G. Harlan who made lime in a pot kiln. Nothing has been done here in late years."
"A. A. Haskins, of Hollister and Colma, has opened a dolomite quarry under lease on the property of the San Benito Vineyards Co., 10 miles southwest of Hollister. The opening is on a sidehill, about half a mile west of Baldi and Rothschild holdings. It has an elevation of 1550 feet. Ascending the hill above the open cut, croppings of fairly pure dolomite occur on the slope for perhaps 300 feet, followed by a zone of metamorphic dolomite and limestones, giving way at the summit to croppings of granitic schist. Eastward, down the slope 200 feet below the summit, fairly pure dolomite occurs, merging rapidly into highly silicified dolomitic limestone.
Mr. Haskins has opened a cut 36 feet wide with a face 30 feet high and has gone into the hill about 40 feet. The photograph illustrates the method of working. From the car the dolomite is dumped into a chute which feeds the ore into the wagon or auto truck used for hauling to the railroad at Hollister. The light overburden, one to three feet, is removed with scrapers, and the dolomite is blasted loose after drilling with hand tools. The material is high grade, pure white and crystalline, and carries better than 40% MgCO3, with an insignificant amount of silica. The deposit has been opened in such a way as to allow of very cheap mining, and a good road to Hollister favors fairly cheap hauling. Mr. Haskins has erected a small loading bin at the depot at Hollister. The material is raised to this bin by a bucket elevator and goes from the bin into the cars on the siding below. Several hundred tons were awaiting shipment there in December."
| Haskins Dolomite Quarry, near Hollister, San Benito County. |  |
(For A. A. Haskins also see: Hollister (south of), San Benito County, California - Hamilton (Scott Ranch) Limestone and Dolomite Deposits/Quarries.)
"On the property of Leopold Palmtag, adjacent to the ranch of the San Benito Vineyards Co., dolomite is reported to occur in considerable quantity, no doubt a part of the same deposit mined at (the properties of Baldi and Rothschild, under the name of San Benito Quarries Co., and A. A. Haskins.) This dolomite had not been prospected and was not visited by the writer."
"Martin Ranch (dolomite) deposit is 8 miles south of Hollister, on land adjoining the Permanente deposit on the northwest. Work startedon the deposit in 1916 and continued for a number of years, but the property was inactive at time of last visit. The following analysis was made in 1916 by Abbot A. Hanks. Inc."
CaCO3, 54.54 percent
MgCO3, 42.78 percent
Fe2O3 and Al2O3, 0.80 percent
SiO2, 1.00 percent
"McPhail deposits in secs. 13 and 23, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., were formerly listed under Archer Lime Company. The 245 acres of land is now assessed to Amy R. McPhail, Hollister. The largest outcrop is on a tract of 81 acres in section 23, but no figures of possible tonnage are available. D. McPhail, late secretary for Archer Lime Company, claimed several analyses indicated 96 percent CaCO3 and from 2 ¼ to 4 percent MgCO3. Hollister, on the railroad, is about 17 miles to the north."
"George Melendey Ranch in W ½ sec. 27, T. 15 S., R. 7 E., contains a large part of a deposit of Gabilan limestone which extends along the course of the San Andreas fault close to state highway 119 between Willow Creek school and Jungle Inn. The deposit is 24 miles southeast of Hollister by road, and at an elevation ranging from 1000 to 1200 feet.
"The road crosses the southern end of the deposit, but the largest section extends for a mile northwest nearly parallel to the road on the west side. There it rises to a height of 200 feet and has a maximum width of possibly 500 feet, but is only 75 feet wide where the road crosses; it terminates at the south in a block 50 feet wide. It is grayish-blue to white marble and is distinctly a recemented fault breccia. So far as known, no work has been done upon it.
"A sample taken across a width of 75 feet near the south end gave the following results:
Analysis by Abbott A. Hanks, Ins. June 1946
Insoluble, 4.59 percent
Ferric and aluminic oxides, 0.26 percent
Calcium carbonate, 92.08 percent
Magnesium carbonate, 2.99 percent
Total, 99.92 percent"This deposit extends also across the NE ¼ sec. 28 and into the S ½ sec. 21, T. 15 S., R. 7 E."
"O'Hara Ranch (dolomite) deposit was assessed in 1943 to Thomas J. and James V. O'Hara and Frances P. O'Connor, P.O. Box 281, Vallejo, and was under option to A. E. Hamilton, whose rights were reported in April 1944 to have been transferred to Westvaca Chlorine Products Corporation, Newark, California.
"Dolomite was first produced in 1915 from this 400-acre holding by Baldi and Rothschild under the name San Benito Quarries Company. It is 11 miles south of Hollister and 1.8 miles south of Vineyard by road. When visited in December 1943 much new prospecting had been done, which indicated a large deposit. Cuts made by tractor and bulldozer exposed dolomite over a length of 1500 feet in a S. 65 W. direction, and a quarry face nearly 350 feet east of the east end of the bulldozer cut indicated that much additional length. Another cut nearly at right angles to the above exposed a width of about 630 feet in a S. 28 E. direction. The dolomite in this direction appeared to terminate at a gully which perhaps marks a fault trace near the summit of the ridge, across which the long dimension of deposit extends toward the Hamilton deposit. The quarry face, 185 feet wide, exposed dolomite for 120 feet N. 16 W. and 40 to 45 feet high. At the south end, the quarry shows the dolomite resting on a thoroughly rotted rock which in turn has been pierced by dikes of granitic rock, also thoroughly decomposed.
"According to Hamilton, 5 drill holes were drilled 118 feet and a total of 8,000,000 tons of dolomite was indicated. This would be the tonnage present in a block 600 feet wide by 1500 feet long and 100 feet in depth, with no allowance for waste in quarrying, or loss due to variation in the chemical composition. Both are likely to be important factors in working a dolomite deposit in this region, as was found in the Permanent operation near Natividad.
"Detailed analyses were not available at the time of visit for samples from the drill-holes. In the early work near the surface Baldi and Rothschild claimed 21.55 percent MgO and at the Hamilton workings a quarter to half a mile west 21.23 percent MgO was claimed. Near the underlying intrusive the amount of silica increases; probably the analyses of all deposits in the area are quite similar."
"Permanente deposit is on 237 acres owned by The Permanente Metals Corporation, Permanente, California. The land adjoins the Crowe and Martin holdings, is about 2 miles west of Vineyard School and 10 miles by road south of Hollister.
"The dolomite was prospected in 1943 by numerous drill holes. Some churn-drill holes as much as 100 feet deep are said to have bottomed in the deposit. Most of the work, however, was done with jackhammers, about 1000 holes have been drilled. The deposit is close to the San Andreas fault zone and rises to an elevation of 2200 feet on the east slope of the Gabilan Mountains.
"The prospecting is reported to have indicated a deposit of several million tons of which over 1,000,000 tons in the upper part, farthest from the intrusive is high in MgO and ranges from 0.35 to 0.75 percent SiO2 with Fe2O3 and Al2O3 running 1 percent or less. Near the intrusive at the base of deposit the silica content increases to 3 percent or more in places. The owners required over 20 percent MgO in dolomite being used at the time to make magnesium, and a large part of the deposit is claimed to exceed this. No production has been made from the property."
See: Hollister, San Benito County, California – O'Hara Ranch Dolomite Deposit above.
See: Hollister (south of), San Benito County, California – Hamilton (Scott Ranch) Limestone Deposit above.
(Operator) Westvaco Chemical Div., Food Machinery Corp. (dolomite); (Address) 405 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y.; (Location) Hollister.
(Also see: Hollister (south of), San Benito County, California – O'Hara Ranch Dolomite Deposit above.)
"Granite Rock Company of Watsonville operates a very large plant at Logan just inside the boundary line of San Benito County. Mrs. A. R. Wilson is president, A. J. Wilson is vice-president and general manager. John E. Porter is secretary and sales manager, Royal E. Fowle is engineering and production manager, and Frank Swearingen is superintendent.
"Production capacity is 750 tons per hour, and facilities are provided for loading directly on railroad cars. A wide range of sizes of crushed granite rock suitable for the following uses is made: concrete pavements, structures, walks, floors, and pipe; railroad-ballast, asphaltic concrete, plant-mix surfacing, Virginia mix, parking-area surfaces, screenings, sewage-disposal plant filters, water-supply filters, chicken and turkey grits, penetration-asphalt macadam, armor coat, retreads, seal coats, drains, and rip-rap.
A granite crusher-run base is also sold for the following uses: bases for highways, runways, parking areas, hard-standing areas, warehouse and factory floors, driveways and walks. It has been successfully used as fill and base material on unstable or sandy soils in connection with railway and highway construction.
"As details of the plant have been described in an illustrated article by Royal E. Fowle* they are not repeated here. The San Andreas fault has assisted in crushing the granite to such an extent that much less blasting is needed at this quarry than in the average quarry in granite. The faulting and other features of the geology have been described by Allen."**
(* Page 60, footnote 31: Fowle, R. E., Operations of the Granite Rock Company quarry and plant at Logan, San Benito County: California Div. Mines Bull. 133, pp. 77-81, pls. 9-12, 1946.)
(** Page 60, footnote 32: Allen, J. E., Geology of the San Juan Bautista quadrangle, California: California Div. Mines Bull. 133, pp. 72-73.)
"S. Lavagnino, San Juan, owns the old Twitchell kilns in the upper part of the Rancho Cienega del Gabilan, which have been idle for several years."
"A. F. Underwood, San Juan, owns a limestone deposit in the northern part of the Rancho Cienega del Gabilan, adjoining the property of M. Barbe; under bond to J. C. Kemp van Ee, San Francisco."
(Also see: San Benito County, California – Pacific Portland Cement Company Holdings below)
"M. Barbe, San Juan. Several exposures of this limestone in Secs. 9 and 15, T. 13 S., R. 4 E., and in the northern part of the Rancho Cienega de Gabilan. At present under bond to J. C. Kemp van Ee, San Francisco."
(Also see: San Benito County, California – Pacific Portland Cement Company Holdings below.)
Mine name: Dolomite Quarry; Operator: San Benito Aggregates, Inc.; Address & County: 11380 Cienga Rd., Hollister, CA 95023, San Benito County; Phone: (408) 636-1383; Latitude: 36.74, Longitude: -121.38, and Mine location number: Map No. 530; Mineral commodity: Dolomite.
"Granite Rock Company, A. R. Wilson, Watsonville, manager. The quarry is in the northwest corner of the Rancho Las Aromitas y Agua Caliente, on the Pajaro River, at Logan, a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad. The granite is rather disintegrated, and lies in narrow beds. It is used for macadam, etc."
"Hamilton Deposit. A. E. Hamilton, Post Office Box 621 Hollister, is planning to produce limestone from a deposit in sec. 23, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., M.D. The limestone will be pulverized in an extension of the plant where he now crushes dolomite, and which is described herein under the heading of dolomite. He states that the limestone crops out on 25 acres with a face 45 feet high opened in one place, and that it runs 99 percent CaCO3. Lime was at one time burned in two kilns which have been on the property since 1890."
"Hamilton Mines consist of two tracts of land in what would be sec. 2, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., M.D., if the regular land-net were projected northward 2 miles into a Spanish grant. The tract on which the present quarry and mill are located contains 80 acres and the second tract to the south, known as the O'Hara tract, contains 400 acres. A. E. Hamilton, P. O. Box 621, Hollister, is owner and operator.
"The mill is on the west end of the 80-acre tract, and the present quarry and 125-ton bunker are on the east end. Dolomite is hauled 1 ½ miles by truck from the bunker to the mill. At the bunker, an adit level 300 to 400 feet long has been driven in the dolomite. At 150 feet from the portal a raise goes up to the quarry floor above, and this provides a storage-capacity of 125 tons. The depth of this adit-level below the surface is 115 feet, but the total thickness of dolomite at the raise is 240 feet. At the same point where the raise is located a crosscut has been driven southward for 100 feet in dolomite.
"The mill is a crushing and screening plant with a capacity of 400 tons in an 8-hour day. Present (circa 1947) output is about 400 tons per week. For steel furnaces the dolomite is screened through a ¾-inch screen, and material below 4-mesh is screened out and stock-piled. For chemical plants it is screened through ¾-inch and everything below 3/8-inch is screened out. The mill is 10 miles by road from Hollister. Hamilton is planning an extension of this mill to enable him to make pulverized limestone from a deposit a few miles to the south…."
"In 1944, the sum of $11,000 was spent in developing and sampling the O'Hara tract. Overburden was removed by means of a bulldozer from cuts about 50 feet apart, and five churn-drill holes were put down to a maximum depth of 100 feet. Hamilton states that this work indicates a body of dolomite of 6,000,000 tons running about 21 percent magnesia and less than 0.5 percent silica."
Mine name: Harris Quarry; Operator: Granite Rock Company; Address & County: P. O. Box 50001, Watsonville, CA 95077-5001, San Benito County; Phone: (408) 724-5611; Latitude: 36.75, Longitude: -121.40, and Mine location number: Map No. 531; Mineral commodity: Limestone.
"U. G. Harlan, Hollister, owns a limestone deposit in Secs. 23 and 24, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., on which he has a pot-kiln of 250 barrels capacity, and it is claimed burns a fair quality of lime for local use."
"Old Mission Portland Cement Company holdings passed in 1927 by merger to Pacific Portland Cement Company...."
(Also see: San Benito County, California – Pacific Portland Cement Company below.)
"Pacific Portland Cement Company, 417 Montgomery Streets, San Francisco, owns the cement plant near San Juan Bautista formerly operated by Old Mission Portland Cement Company. The plant was closed in June 1943 and was idle at the time field work was done for the present report in 1945."
Pacific Portland Cement Company (Limestone Quarry)
"Pacific Portland Cement Company, 417 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, has quarried large amounts of limestone near its cement plant at San Juan Bautista. A quarry operated in this connection is 4 miles by road south of the plant, and the stone was delivered by truck. Formerly a railroad of 36-inch gauge was used. The cement plant was shut down in June 1943."
| Plate 10. Pacific Portland Cement Company Limestone Quarry, San Benito County, California. |  |
"Old Mission Portland Cement Company holdings passed in 1927 by merger to Pacific Portland Cement Company, 417 Montgomery Street, San Francisco. The cement plant at San Juan Bautista has a capacity of 2500 barrells (sic) a day. After being shut down since 1930, it was put in operation in 1941, but closed again during 1943. It was again reopened early in 1947.
"The limestone holdings in San Benito County include those on the Barbee Ranch, 696 acres, about half a mile from the cement plant; 85 acres on Underwood Ranch, 2 ½ miles from plant; Flint Ranch, 512 acres, 4 miles from the plant; and mineral rights on 8750 acres on Gabilan Peak, about 9 miles from the plant, but this latter land is mostly in Monterey County. There are two rail connections, a broad-gauge railroad 7.94 miles long called the California Central Railroad which connects the cement plant with the Southern Pacific main line at Chittenden, and a narrow-gauge line which was formerly used to take limestone to the plant from the deposits in San Juan Canyon.
"The Flint Ranch deposit, a principal source of supply, lies along the tops of the steep hills above San Juan Canyon. In the Gabilan Peak deposits, the limestone shows all degrees of silicification. At several places near the top of the peak, deposits of white, high-grade barite have been found in the limestone and proved large enough to repay mining. The Gabilan limestone is older than the granitic rock and has been changed to highly crystalline marble. The color ranges from dark blue to nearly pure white. At these upper elevations much of the stone is high-calcium limestone carrying perhaps 96 percent CaCo3 according to William F. Jones (11, p. 58).* He quoted the following analyses which are furnished by San Juan Portland Cement Company, predecessor to Old Mission Portland Cement Company:
(* William F. Jones, "The geology of the Sargent oil field," Univ. California, dept. Geol. Sci. Bull., vol. 6, pp. 55-78, map, 1911)
Moisture, #1, 0.10 percent; #2, 0.10 percent
Silica and insol. res., #1, 2.62 percent; #2, 1.00 percent
CaCO3, #1, 96.23 percent; #2, 96.62 percent
Fe2O3, #1, 0.30 percent; #2, 0.05 percent
Al2O3, #1, 0.40 percent; #2, trace
MgO, #1, 0.24 percent; #2, 2.19 percent
Organic matter, #1 ---; #2, 0.10 percent"In 1913, Old Mission Portland Cement Company erected four continuous-system vertical lime kilns of 75 barrels daily capacity each at the cement plant site. These were never put in commission."
"Paicines Sandstone Quarry, in Sec. 1, T. 14 S., R. 6 E., M. D. M.; Martin Miller, Paicines, owner. Idle for years."
"Chittenden Cement Plant; Mr. Bauman of New York and Mr. Kemp Van Ee of San Francisco, owners until the company is regularly organized. The company has completed plans for the erection of a large cement plant near Chittenden, a small station on the coast line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, in the southeast corner of Santa Cruz County. The company claims to have about 700 acres of limestone from 1 ½ to 2 ½ miles west of San Juan, and an immense hill of shale at Chittenden. The plans call for a plant with a daily capacity of 3200 barrels, with facilities for enlarging. Buildings are to be of steel and reinforced concrete. The plans also include a broad-gauge electric railroad to tide water at Watsonville Landing. Oil from the nearby wells will be used as fuel."
"Old Mission Portland Cement Co., Baron Kemp Van Ee, president, Crocker Building, San Francisco, Cal., began in 1903 the erection of a cement plant just outside the town of San Juan Bautista, but work was interrupted by financial difficulties and the establishment has never been completed. In connection with the cement factory a lime plant was erected. This is fully described under the heading of Lime. Including the factory site, the company owns 1453 acres of land in San Benito County, on which are three limestone deposits. They also have mineral rights on 8750 acres on and near Gabilan Peak, with water rights in San Juan Cañon, and a narrowgauge railroad to the limestone deposit. From the plant to Chittenden, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, the company constructed a broadgauge line known as the California Central Railroad. This gave access to trunk lines for transporting the prospective output, and tapped the clay and shale deposits near Chittenden, which were to be utilized in cement making…."
| Partially constructed plant of the Old Mission Portland Cement Company, San Juan Bautista, California. Photo by S. D. Leman. |  |
"For quarrying the limestone and clay beds, two Marion Steam shovels were provided. Two dinkey locomotives and ore cars are also owned, to handle the quarried limestone, and the narrowgauge railroad is built to the Underwood limestone bed, 2 ½ miles from the plant. The broadgauge line is equipped with locomotive and rolling-stock. The plant is designed to have a capacity of 3000 barrels of cement daily, working by the wet process. Hopes are entertained by many that construction will be completed soon, but no definite steps to this end have been taken. Extension of the narrowgauge railroad from the Underwood to the flint limestone deposit would be necessary to insure a satisfactory reserve, and this extension would call for some very heavy construction, which might be obviated by installing an aerial tramway system.
"The location of various holdings are shown approximately in the accompanying sketch (below). The Barbee limestone deposit lies about ½ mile from the plant and appears to be a good grade of material but is situated too low to be economically handled by a steam shovel. The Underwood deposit lies about 2 ½ miles from the plant. According to analyses made by the company, the limestone here is good quality and the amount available, according to their engineer's reports, would run the plant for possibly 3 years…."
| Properties of Old Mission Portland Cement Co. Near San Juan Bautista Cal. (Map) Data from the Company, drawn by C. A. Logan. |  |
"Old Mission Portland Cement Co., of San Juan Bautista, owns the only modern lime kilns in the county. The plant was erected in 1913 in conjunction with the cement manufactory. At that time it was planned to supply limestone for burning from the same quarries which were to furnish the material for cement. The failure to complete the cement plant and begin quarrying operations left the lime kilns without any material to work on, and they have so far made no production, only a ton or so of rock having been burned in one kiln for a test.
"These are four continuous system kilns of 75 barrels per day capacity each, housed in a galvanized building. Burning is to be done with crude oil fuel. A 15-h.p. steam boiler is installed and will be used to keep up pressure on the oil feed. If the narrowgauge railroad were in operation to the limestone deposits, it ought to be possible to burn lime and put it on the market cheaply from this plant, as transportation to the main line of the Southern Pacific is already provided for by the company's own line of broadgauge railroad."
| Lime kilns, Old Mission Portland Cement Co.'s plant, San Juan Bautista, California. Photo by S. D. Leman. |  |
| Plant of the Old Mission Portland Cement Company, San Juan Bautista, San Benito County, which began operations in 1918. |  |
(Also see: San Benito County, California – Pacific Portland Cement Company Holdings below)
(Operator) Pacific Portland Cement Co., c/o Ideal Cement Co.; (Address) 821 17th St., Denver 2, Colo.; (Location) San Juan Bautista.
(Also see: San Benito County, California – Pacific Portland Cement Company Holdings above)
(Underwood Ranch - See: San Benito County, California – Pacific Portland Cement Company Holdings above.)
"A Denver marble dealer, C. M. Bills, has been examining the big deposits of marble in the Santa Ritas, Southern California, owned by Alex. McKay and Charles Connell. He found the specimens beautiful as to colors, they being blue, gray, clouded and white, the white being identical with the purest Italian marble. One defect found is that the marble is too badly cracked. All specimens, however, were taken from the surface, and with depth flawless blocks of desirable size could probably be obtained."
"Archer Lime Co. D. McPhail, Hollister, Cal., secretary. The property consists of 245 acres of land 14 miles southeast of Tres Pinos station, in Secs. 23 and 13, T. 14 S., R. 5 E. There are bold croppings of limestone here, standing up possibly 70 feet in places above the base. Mr. McPhail states that he has various analyses showing 96% CaCO3 and 2 ¼% to 4% MgCO3. The property has been mentioned favorably by engineers and no doubt contains an extremely large tonnage of good grade limestone, but has never been exploited as yet."
"McPhail Deposit. Amy McPhail of Hollister holds 81 acres in sec. 23, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., M.D., 14 miles southeast of Tres Pinos, and a one-third interest in a 41-acre tract in sec. 13 of the same township. Other owners of the 41-acre tract are A. Jose, 5904 MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland, and U. G. Harlan, Hollister. The 81-acre tract contains a bold outcrop of limestone standing 150 feet high in places. Analyses show 96 percent CaCo3 and 2 ½ to 4 percent MgCO3."
"Connelly and limestone deposits, known also as the San Benito Lime Co., owned by Geo. Connelly and J. H. Kruse, 23d and Shotwell Sts., San Francisco, Cal., are situated in Sec. 23, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., adjacent to the property of the Archer Lime Co. There are in all 240 acres of land, on parts of which a good quality of limestone occurs. There is an old kiln of 50-ton capacity on the land, and years ago some good lime was made here, but no production has been reported for a long time."
"San Benito lime deposit (Connelly and Kruse) of 243 acres in sec. 23, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., M.D., adjacent to the McPhail holdings, is assessed to Walter R. Fontaine, 244 Lakeside Drive, Oakland."
"Henry Cowell Lime and Cement Co., of No. 2 Market St., San Francisco, Cal., (with which is associated the Holmes Lime Co.) owns 1044 acres of land containing extensive limestone deposits, in Secs. 28, 29, 30 and 32, T. 14 S., R. 6 E., and Secs. 14 and 24, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., 13 miles from Tres Pinos, in the vicinity of Thompson Creek. About 16 years ago the Cienega Lime Co. operated 4 kilns of 50-barrel capacity each on this property, and burned considerable lime, which was hauled to Tres Pinos for shipment. Since the present owners came into possession no production has been reported."
(Bib.: Reports VIII, P. 488; XI, p. 370; XII, p. 393; XIII, p. 629; Bull. 38, p. 76.)
"Henry Cowell Lime and Cement Company, 2 Market Street, San Francisco, has held large tracts of land for limestone in secs. 28, 29, 30, and 32, T. 14 S., R. 6 E., M.D., and secs. 14 and 24, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., about 13 miles from Tres Pinos. About 1900, Cienega Lime Company operated four kilns of 50-barrel capacity each on this property, but no production has been made recently."
Tres Pinos, San Benito County, California – U. G. Harlan et al. (Limestone & Lime Kiln) (Excerpt from Report XV of the State Mineralogist, Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist's Report Biennial Period 1915-1916, Part V. Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura counties, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 595-769.)
"U. G. Harlan et al., of Hollister, own 320 acres in Secs. 23 and 24, T. 14 S., R. 5 E., 13 miles southwest of Tres Pinos on which lime was burned up to about 8 years ago. Since that time the kiln is reported to have lain idle."
(Bibl.: Bull. 38, p. 76.)
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