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Home > California > CA - Quarry Links & Photographs > San Diego County > List of Stone Quarries
(* Please note this list does not include sand, gravel, or decomposed granite quarries.)
"Lakeside lime and marl deposit is on El Cajon Rancho, in the northeast corner of T. 15 S., R. 1 W., S.B., 3 miles north of Lakeside. The marl has a thickness of 2 to 4 feet, with a light overburden of soil. It has been used locally as soil corrective or fertilizer. According to a partial analysis quoted in past reports as having been made by the State Department of Agriculture, the CaCO3 content of the product sold was 83.7 percent.
"On Otay Mesa near Otay, a marl similar to that north of Lakeside was reported. Otaylite (montmorillonite) has been worked here extensively and possibly this was mistaken for limestone years ago."
"Andrew Lehnberg, of Foster, operates a quarry on El Cajon Grant, west of Foster, and about 600 yards south of the Simpson-Pirnie quarry. This is also biotite granite. He also operates a quarry of dark green rock near Lakeside, which Dr. A. S. Eakle has identified as diorite. This material is derived from boulders, no ledge having yet been opened."
"Dr. A. S. Eakle's determination of (this rock) is as follows:….
"Lehnberg, Lakeside. Hornblende-diorite. A thin section shows plagioclase predominating and scattered plates of hornblende. A few rods of biotite occur. The rock has a sprinkling of magnetite with an occasional grain of pyrite."
"San Diego Granite Works, corner Eleventh and M streets, San Diego, Fred Fickas, proprietor…It now uses stone from the Simpson-Pirnie quarry west of Foster and from Lehnberg's quarry near Lakeside (circa 1914)…."
"Verruga marble quarries are in sec. 10, T. 11 S., R. 4 E., S.B. Eight patented claims were owned by John Johnson, Escondido, in 1939. The nearest railroad point is Lakeside, about 52 miles southwest. Road improvements in late years should permit hauling of marble at much less than the former cost, which was prohibitive when the quarries were last worked from 1921-23.
Two deposits of marble, 800 feet apart and separated by mica schist, occur in an area of metamorphic rocks near granite. The western deposit outcrops for about 1000 feet striking N. 20 W. and is about 100 feet wide. The eastern outcrop is reported to be 200 feet by 1000 feet. Two quarries were opened in the twenties on the western deposit and the marble was used in several buildings in San Diego. Some work was also done on the eastern deposit. The marble is white, coarsely crystalline and of uniform texture and color. It is quite hard and can be quarried in large blocks."
This quarry produced a gray stone. First year of production was 1913, last year of production was 1913.
No. 4 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Lakeside Silver Gray granite." First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1846.
| Figure 13. View into Cameron-Deering quarry, Lakeside. Distribution of the many fractures in the rock is such that uniform blocks are difficult to obtain. |  |
| Figure 14. Perfect joint plane. Cameron-Deering quarry, Lakeside. |  |
No. 11 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Mission Silver Gray granite."
This quarry was located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County. First year of production was 1913, last year of production was 1915.
No. 11 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Mission Silver Gray granite." First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1946.
No. 12 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone. First year of production was 1921, last year of production was 1935.
No. 11 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Mission Silver granite." First year of production was 1932, last year of production was 1936.
No. 4 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Mission Silver granite." First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1946.
No. 14 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone. First year of production was 1932, last year of production was 1936.
No. 11 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Silver Gray granite." First year of production was 1924, last year of production was 1929.
No. 14 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone. First year of production was 1923, last year of production was 1930.
No. 11 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Mission Silver Gray granite." First year of production was 1929, last year of production was 1932.
No. 12 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone. First year of production was (?), last year of production was 1932.
No. 18 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Silver Gray granite." First year of production was 1919, last year of production was 1936.
"(Mexican onyx or onyx marble) This handsome ornamental stone is mineralogically aragonite, a form of carbonate of lime often deposited form hot springs. The only occurrence in this county has been reported from the valley of Los Peñasquitos Creek on the grant of that name.* The exact locality could not be ascertained by the writer.
(* Page 674 footnote: Bulletin 38, page 369.)
"San Diego Granite Works, corner Eleventh and M streets, San Diego, Fred Fickas, proprietor. Formerly operated a quarry near Mt. Helix, one quarter mile east of Hotel Grossmont. Also at one time operated the quarry near La Mesa, now controlled by Charles G. Moore. It now uses stone from the Sampson-Pirnie quarry west of Foster and from Lehnberg's quarry near Lakeside (circa 1914).
No. 10 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Pala District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "Pala Black granite." First year of production was 1946, last year of production was 1948.
| Fig. 10. Transported boulders, Emil Johnson and Sons quarry, Pala. |  |
No. 10 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Pala District of San Diego County, produced a black stone. First year of production was 1922, last year of production was 1934.
| Figure 16. Vertical west face of McGee quarry, near Pala, as it appeared in July 1947. Note large boulders in upper part of thick, well-defined "creep" layer, which also contains smaller boulders that show some exfoliation. The underlying residual material, with its large, spheroidally weathered boulders, is well exposed to the right of the man. Its sharp upper contact is elsewhere concealed by slumped debris and quarry waste. |  |
No. 10 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Pala District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "Mission Black granite." First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1945.
This photograph is of a group of students on a field trip posing in front "of schlieren and cross-cutting dikes in a quarry near Ramona, San Diego County. This exposure of granitic rocks is part of the Southern California batholith, one of the major batholithic terranes exposed in California." (This web site is a part of the Department of Geological Sciences and Center For Los Angeles Basin Subsurface Geology (Clabsg) at California State University, Long Beach.)
No. 1 on “Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries,” located in the Santee District of San Diego County, produces a black stone, trade name “Blue-Diamond Granite.” First year of production was 1927, last year of production was 1941
"At Jamul, 18 miles southeasterly from San Diego, hydraulic cement was manufactured on a small scale a number of years ago. The reason commonly assigned for abandoning the industry at this point is that it is too far from the railway. The plant was designed, it is said,* to produce 200 barrels per day."
(*Footnote: Ninth Annual Report of State Mineralogist, 1889, pp. 139 and 309. Twelfth ibid., 1892, p. 383.)
"Jamul Portland Cement Company was organized in San Diego County in 1889, to manufacture cement at a plant on Jamul Rancho, 18 miles east of San Diego (Irelan 90, p. 309).* The erection of a plant was started in 1890 (Storms 93, p. 383)** and it was finished on June 1891. It contained seven kilns and had a capacity of 150 barrels a day. The product was used for sidewalks in San Diego and according to Storms (93),** it was also sold elsewhere in southern California. The project was evidently short-lived. It was said to cost more to haul the cement to San Diego than the cost of bringing English portland cement to California by water.
(* William Irelan, Jr., Ninth annual report of the State Mineralogist for the year ending December 1, 1889, California Min. Bur. Rept. 9, 352 pp., illus., 1890)
(** W. H. Storms, "San Diego County," California Min. Bur. Rept. 11, pp. 376-387, illus., 1893)
"The following analysis of the 'soft concretionary limestone' found on the property and used as raw material in making cement is taken from Irelan (90),* who does not mention what other ingredients were used."
(* William Irelan, Jr., Ninth annual report of the State Mineralogist for the year ending December 1, 1889, California Min. Bur. Rept. 9, 352 pp., illus., 1890)
Silica, 1.86 percent
Alumina, 1.10 percent
Carbonate of lime, 94.28 percent
Carbonate of magnesia, 1.19 percent
Carbonates of alkalies, 1.15 percent."The composition of the cement was given as follows:
Lime, 65.2 percent
Magnesia, 1.20 percent
Silica, 24.00 percent
Alumina, 5.24 percent
Iron Peroxide, 2.21 percent
Alkalies, 1.00 percent
Sulphuric acid, 0.20 percent
Carbonic acid, 1.00 percent
"Sweetwater Dam Quarry, E. A. Hornbeck, National City, general manager. This granite quarry is some miles southwest of San Diego, and the product was used entirely in the construction of the reservoir dam."
"San Diego Stone Company, 643 Spreckels Building. President and manager, E. A. Hornbeck; secretary, C. Kalbough. This company produces crushed stone for concrete. The quarry opened in 1887 for Sweetwater Dam, is west of the dam on the south side of the valley. The property consists of 15 acres held in fee, a portion of the Rancho La Nacion. Gates and Simons Dise crushers are operated (circa 1914) by electric power. Daily capacity of plant 400 tons. The annual production of crushed stone is about 49,000 tons. Of riprap and jetty stone 21,000 tons."
| Sweetwater Quarry, San Diego Stone Co. Sweetwater Dam and Mt. St. Miguel. |  |
"Elliott dolomite property comprises two 160-acre association placer claims in the S ½ sec. 26 and adjacent parts of secs. 27, 34 and 35, T. 15 S., R. 8 E., S. B. The nearest loading station on San Diego & Arizona Railroad is 8 miles south. Mrs. Ellen Elliott Chilwell, Live Oak Springs via Pine Valley Post Office, California, Fred Elliott, Boulevard Post Office, California and others, are owners.
"The deposit traverses a mountain 1500 feet high, a quarter of a mile wide and about a mile long, in the desert near the Imperial County line.
"The following analysis was made by Smith Emery & Company, Los Angeles (No. 188685):"
Silica SiO2, 0.43 percent
Iron oxide Fe2O3, 0.10 percent
Aluminum oxide Al2O3, 0.25 percent
Calcium oxide CaO, 31.37 percent
Magnesium oxide MgO, 20.89 percent
Carbon dioxide CO2, 46.70 percent
Sulfuric anhydride SO3, none
Phosphoric anhydride P2O5, trace
Acid insoluble matter, 0.83 percent
Purity as calcium-magnesium carbonate, 98.8 percent
"Very extensive deposits of marble, of several shades of color, which will soon be accessible (circa 1914) by the San Diego and Arizona Railroad, are in Coyote Mountain, T. 15 S., R. 10 E., a few miles east of the San Diego County line. These will be described under Imperial County."
Mine name: Mission Gorge Pit; Operator: Superior Ready Mix Concrete; Address & County: 7500 Mission Gorge Rd., San Diego, CA 92120, San Diego County; Phone: (619) 265-0296; Latitude: 32.81, Longitude: -117.09, and Mine location number: Map No. 627; Mineral commodity: Stone.
In 1995 National Quarries was operating one granite quarry in San Diego County. At that time the headquarters for the company was Perris, California.
Mine name: Sim J. Harris Company; Operator: Sim J. Harris Company; Address & County: P. O. Box 639069, San Diego County; Phone: (619) 277-5481; Latitude: 32.88, Longitude: -117.13, and Mine location number: Map No. 641; Mineral commodity: Stone.
Mine name: TTT Quarry; Operator: Superior Ready Mix Concrete; Address & County: 12494 Hwy. 67, Lakeside, CA 92040, San Diego County; Phone: (619) 443-7510; Latitude: 32.91, Longitude: -116.94, and Mine location number: Map No. 646; Mineral commodity: Stone.
Mine name: UCLH San Marcos; Operator: South Coast Materials Company; Address & County: P. O. Box 639069, San Diego County; Phone: (619) 729-2010; Latitude: 33.13, Longitude: -117.17, and Mine location number: Map No. 647; Mineral commodity: Stone.
No. 9 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "National Blue granite." First year of production was 1946, last year of production was 1948.
No. 13 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "California Black granite." First year of production was 1948, last year of production was 1948.
No. 13 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "California Black granite." First year of production was 1944, last year of production was 1946.
No. 13 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "California Black granite." First year of production was 1938, last year of production was 1944.
No. 16 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone. First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1945.
No. 20 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone. First year of production was 1944, last year of production was 1944.
No. 1 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Santee District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "San Diego Black granite." First year of production was 1900, last year of production was 1926.
This quarry was located in the Santee District of San Diego County. First year of production was 1913, last year of production was 1915.
"Simpson-Pirnie Granite Company, James Simpson, president, San Diego. At Santee, a station on the San Diego, Cuyamaca and Eastern Railway, 3 miles north of El Cajon and 25 miles north of San Diego, is a granite quarry that has been operated for several years. A short railway spur extends from Santee to the quarry, which is on the north side of the El Cajon Valley. The granite is quarried by hand. The stone is a bright-colored, light-gray, biotite-augite granite, which has a reddish to brownish tint on the weathered outcrop. In some places this brownish discoloration from the oxidation of the iron extends several feet below the surface, while in other places it is a mere shell on the surface. In the middle of the quarry face is a dike-like band that shows several open vertical joint seams, but elsewhere on the face the rock is massive and almost free from open seams. It has a remarkable straight fracture, and is easily obtained in regular rectangular blocks as large as can be handled. There is comparatively little stripping to the granite mass and no expensive waste in quarrying. As the quarry is at the base of the butte, the height of the quarry face will increase as it is worked back toward the center of the hill. The stone is quite uniform in texture and color, with the exception of a few small dark blotches caused by a local segregation of the dark mica flakes. It is used largely for monuments, and for this purpose it is cut and dressed at the company's yard in San Diego and shipped in considerable quantities to Los Angeles and other points in southern California. It also makes an excellent building stone, for which it is used to some extent."
| Figure 11. Sheet structure at Simpson quarry, Santee. |  |
For a description of the second quarry mentioned in the description above, also operated by this company, see:"Simpson-Pirnie Granite Company, James Simpson, president, Peter C. Pirnie, secretary. Office and works. Two quarries are worked. One is near Santee station on the San Diego, Cuyamaca and Eastern Railway, 25 miles from San Diego in the east side of the hill south of the station. The property comprises 49 acres.
"The granite is quarried by hand. The stone is a bright-colored light gray grano-diorite with a reddish to brownish tint on the weathered outcrop. In some places this discoloration from the oxidation of the iron extends several feet below the surface, while in others it is merely superficial. For the most part the rock is massive and almost free from open seams. It has a remarkably straight fracture, and is easily obtained in rectangular blocks as large as can be handled. There is little stripping and no expensive waste in quarrying. The stone is quite uniform in texture and color, with the exception of a few small blotches caused by local segregation of dark mica flakes. It is largely used for monuments, and for this purpose is cut and dressed at the company's yard in San Diego and shipped in considerable quantities to Los Angeles and other points in southern California. It also makes an excellent building stone, for which it is used to some extent. The annual product amounts to 5,000 cubic feet of dimension stone, 200,000 of paving blocks and 1,500 tons of riprap."
"Dr. A. S. Eakle's determination of (this rock) is as follows:….
"Pirnie-Simpson, Santee. Granodiorite. A thin section shows much triclinic feldspar as well as orthoclase, a small amount of quartz, biotite and hornblende."
(This quarry was in operation ca. 1914.)
Foster (west of), San Diego County, California – Simpson-Pirnie Granite Company Quarry above)
No. 17 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Santee District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone. First year of production was 1888, last year of production was 1932.
"Independent Stone Company, 713 American National Bank Building, Geo. L. Parker, president, L. J. Rice, secretary. This company produces crushed stone for concrete and sand for the same purpose and for general building operations. The stone quarry is southwest of Spring Valley station on the west side of the track. The crushing plant is on the east side of the railroad at the same point. The rock is a fine grained felsite which forms a hill immediately north of Lemon Grove, rising some 300 feet above the mesa level. The production of crushed stone is 75,000 tons per year…."*
(* The information on the building sand shipped by the Independent Stone Company will not be included here.)
| Quarry of the Independent Stone Co. Near Spring Valley. |  |
| Crushing Plant of the Independent Stone Co. Near Spring Valley. |  |
| Filling Storage Bins. Independent Stone Co. |  |
No. 5 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Suncrest District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Suncrest Gray granite." First year of production was 1946, last year of production was 1948.
No. 5 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Suncrest District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Suncrest Gray granite." First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1945.
Temecula Valley, California - Granite Quarries. Temecula History - A Chronology 1797-1993, compiled by Emily Gerstbacher. Granite quarrying began about 1883 in the hills south of town. The granite was used for curb stones, foundation blocks, and paving stones throughout California. the quarrying continued until 1915. (The link from which this information was obtained is no longer available. The article was located on the PE.com web site.)
<http://www.pe.net/~dilemman/History1.htm>
No. 3 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Vista District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "Vista Black granite." First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1947.
(Operator) California Cut Stone; (Address) Railroad Ave., at Magnolia, South San Francisco; (Location) Vista.
| Figure 2. Boulder of black granite being worked in quarry. Emil Johnson and Sons quarry, Vista. |  |
| Figure 9. Residual boulders in granular matrix. Emil Johnson and Sons quarry, Vista. |  |
| Figure 12. Partly weathered rock traversed by numerous fractures. Emil Johnson and Sons quarry, Vista. |  |
No. 8 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Vista District of San Diego County, produced a black stone. First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1946.
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