Tulare County - List of Stone Quarries

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Tulare County – List of Stone Quarries, Etc. *

(* Please note this list does not include sand or gravel quarries.)

California Hot Springs (near), Tulare County, California – Grover Johansen Limestone Deposit (Limestone) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“Grover Johansen, Route 1, Box 98, Corcoran, has sent to our laboratory a sample of blue limestone reported to occur in a deposit near California Hot Springs, 20 miles by road from the Santa Fe Railroad.”
Eshom Creek Camp (southeast of), Tulare County, California – Cortner Group Limestone Deposit (Limestone) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“Cortner Group. This deposit, on a stockraising homestead 2 miles southeast of Eshom Creek Camp in T. 15 S., R. 28 E., M.D., was not visited because it is about 22 miles from a railroad. Judging by a sample, it is similar to the Blossom Peak limestone. The sample is a white, coarsely crystalline stone. No work has been done upon it and possibly three-quarters of a mile of road would be needed to reach it.”
Exeter (east of), Tulare County, California – Biotite Granite Deposit (Biotite Granite) (from Mining in California, Vol. 17, 1921, pp. 258)

“Granite. In the foothills east of Porterville and Exeter there are extensive deposits of biotite granite which is suitable for building purposes Up to the present time only relatively small amounts of development work and production have been undertaken.”

Exeter, Tulare County, California – Granite Quarry (Granite) – Excerpt from the Tenth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1890, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: State Printing Office, 1890, pp. 731.
Tulare County, by Myron Angel, Assistant in the Field.

“Granite, of which much of the mountain range is constituted, affords abundant material for architectural purposes. A granite quarry has been opened three miles from Exeter Station, on the Fresno Branch Railroad, thirteen miles east of Visalia. The steps of the Court House and jail are from the quarry and are large and fine specimens. At the new jail (circa 1890) are two very beautifully polished pillars, sixteen feet in height, fourteen inches in diameter, each of a single flawless piece. This rock also finds a market in Fresno, Stockton, and other localities. Ashlers as large as can be handled can be quarried.”

Exeter, Tulare County, California – the Rocky Point Granite Works (Granite) (from First Annual Catalogue of the State Museum of California, being the collections made by the State Mining Bureau, during the year ending April 16, 1881, revised and reprinted 1888, pp. 232)

“11672. Granite. A one-foot cube dressed and polished. Rocky Point Granite Works, Exeter, Tulare County, California. Messrs. Griffith, Owens & Hughes. May 19, 1890.”

Exeter, Tulare County, California – Rocky Point Granite Quarry (Granite) – “Our Stone Crop,” Vol. 49, No. 25, June 22, 1895, Pacific Rural Press, pp. 385.

“Rocky Point Granite Quarry, Tulare County, showing Indian paintings and effect of a blast.” From “Our Stone Crop,” Vol. 49, No. 25, June 22, 1895, Pacific Rural Press, pp. 385.

Exeter (east of), Tulare County, California – Rocky Point Granite Quarry (Granite) (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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954.)

“Rocky Point Granite Quarry. Situated four miles east of Exeter, in Sec. 8, T. 19 S., R. 27 E., D. R. Griffith and R. H. Owen, of Exeter, owners. The granite is a gray, fine-grained rock of very uniform texture and color, which splits readily in any direction and takes a fine polish. It occurs in large detached masses and flattened beds, the pits of the latter is a little east of north, at an angle of 30°. The beds or layers vary from 2’ to 25’ in thickness and are so situated that a face of any required height may be obtained to quarry. The rift appears to be east and west. Any desired size of building stone can be obtained. Idle.

“Bibl.: Bull. 38, pp. 55, 56.”
Exeter (east of), Tulare County, California – Rocky Point Granite Quarry (Granite) “Tulare County,” by W. Burling Tucker, Field Assistant. Field work in June, 1916, Mines and Mineral Resources of San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, 1917, pp. 126-180.

“Rocky Point Granite Quarry. Situated four miles east of Exeter, in Sec. 8, T. 19 S., R. 27 E., D. R. Griffith and R. H. Owen, of Exeter, owners. The granite is a gray, fine-grained rock of very uniform texture and color, which splits readily in any direction and takes a fine polish. It occurs in large detached masses and flattened beds, the pitch of the latter is a little east of north, at an angle of 30º. The beds or layers vary from 2’ to 25’ in thickness and are so situated that a face of any required height may be obtained to quarry. The rift appears to be east and west. Any desired size of building stone can be obtained. Idle.

“Bibl.: Bull. 38, pp. 55, 56.”

(photo caption – same photographs as displayed above in 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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954. “Number 2 Quarry of California Granite Company.” (pp. 143)
Exeter (east of), Tulare County, California – Rocky Point Granite Quarry (Photograph) (Granite) (Photograph on the Diggings web site, Courtesy of California Geological Survey.)

“Photographer W.L. Watts, Rocky Point Granite Quarry, Tulare County, showing Native American paintings and effects of a blast. Courtesy of Courtesy of California Geological Survey.”
Exeter (east of), Tulare County, California – Rocky Point Marble Quarry (Photoraph) (Granite) (Photographer, W.L. Watts, Rocky Point Marble Quarry, Tulare County. Courtesy of Courtesy of California Geological Survey.)

Kaweah, Tulare County, California – Kings County Rock Quarry (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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954.)

“Kings County Rock Quarry. The Board of Supervisors of Kings County, J. M. McClellan, chairman, Hanford has recently (circa 1916) bought the NE. ¼ of NE. ¼ of Sec. 18, T. 18 S., R. 26 E., 2 miles northwest of Kaweah, with the intention of establishing a quarry for road metal. There are some outcrops of magnesite on the property, which are being developed by T. D. Hoyl, of Los Angeles, under lease.”
Lemon Cove (north of), Tulare County, California – Kaweah Quarries and Kaweah Lime Products Company (Limestone)

(Kaweah Quarries/Kaweah Lime Products Co. – See: Lemon Cove – formerly Limekiln – (north of), Tulare County, California – Lemon Cove Lime Quarry, Kilns, and Plant below.)

Lemon Cove – formerly Limekiln – (north of), Tulare County, California – Lemon Cove Lime Quarry, Kilns, and Plant (Limestone) (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

“Lemon Cove Lime Quarry, in Sec. 35, T. 17 S., R. 27 E. This small quarry lies 1 ½ miles north of Lemon Cove (formerly Limekiln). The stone is a white, coarsely crystalline calcite, and occurs in an irregular pocket formation. The limestone extends for about 40 feet across the face, with perpendicular side walls of clay shale. A dike of slaty schistose material, 4 feet in width, extends diagonally across the present face of the quarry. The stone was trammed about 100 yards to the intermittent open field kilns, two of which have double draws and one is a single draw. Willow wood cut in a nearby creek furnished fuel. The plant has been idle for the past two years.”

Lemon Cove (north of), Tulare County, California – Lemon Cove Lime Quarry (Limestone) “Tulare County,” by W. Burling Tucker, Field Assistant. Field work in June, 1916, Mines and Mineral Resources of San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, 1917, pp. 126-180.

“Lemon Cove Lime Quarry. The quarry is situated 1 ½ miles north of Lemon Cove, in Sec. 35, T. 17 S., R. 27 E. The limestone is a coarsely crystalline calcite and occurs in irregular pockets. The limestone extends for about 40 feet across the face with side walls of clay-shale which dip 65º N. A dike of schistose slate material 4 feet wide extends diagonally across the present face of the quarry. The quarry has a face 50’ high by 40’ wide.

“The broken rock is trammed 100 yards to loading bins. Product is shipped to the sugar refinery at Visalia. Equipment: one (6” x 6”) Gardner air compressor driven by 12 h. p. gas engine. Four men are employed. Carle Roque, of Lemon Cove, owner. Under lease to San Joaquin Valley Sugar Company, Visalia.

“Bibl.: Bulletin 38, p. 94.”

(photo caption - same photographs as displayed above in 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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954.: “Lemon Cove Lime Quarry. Near Lemon Cove, Tulare Co. Showing 40 feet of limestone with clay-shale walls.” (pp. 145)

Lemon Cove (north of), Tulare County, California – Lemon Cove Lime Quarry (Limestone) (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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954.)

“Lemon Cove Lime Quarry. The quarry is situated 1 ½ miles north of Lemon Cove, in Sec. 35, T. 17 S., R. 27 E. The limestone is a coarsely crystalline calcite and occurs in irregular pockets. The limestone extends for about 40 feet across the face with side walls of clay-shale which dip 65° N. A dike of schistose slate material 4 feet wide extends diagonally across the present face of the quarry. The quarry has a face 50’ high by 40’ wide.

“The broken rock is trammed 100 yards to loading bins. Product is shipped to the sugar refinery at Visalia. Equipment: one (6” x 6”) Gardner air compressor driven by 12 h.p. gas engine. Four men are employed. Carle Roque, of Lemon Cove, owner. Under lease to San Joaquin Valley Sugar Company, Visalia.

“Bibl.: Bull 38, p. 94.”

Lemon Cove Lime Quarry. Near Lemon Cove, Tulare Co. Showing 40 feet of limestone with clay-shale walls.

Lemon Cove (north of), Tulare County, California – Lemon Cove Limestone Deposit (formerly called Kaweah Quarries and Kaweah Lime Products Company) (Limestone) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“Lemon Cove deposit (formerly called Kaweah Quarries and Kaweah Lime Products Company) is in NE ¼ sec. 35 and NW ¼ sec. 36, T. 17 S., R. 27 E., M.D., 2 miles by road from Lemon Cove and half a mile from the terminus of Visalia Electric Railway (Southern Pacific Company.) The property has not been a producer since 1932, and the crushing plant and buildings are gone. Ownership was not readily obtainable at the assessor’s office but a tenant on the plant site pays rent to Morgan Keaton, Route 1, Box 658, Fairoaks, California.

“This has been the most extensively worked limestone deposit in the county. The limestone is in part interbedded with shale and ancient schist, has been intruded by dikes and subjected to contact metamorphism with the development of marble and siliceous bands. It covers the southwest slope of hills rising from 650 to 1035 feet (aneroid) elevation, along a frontage of about a third of a mile. Four quarries and some minor openings were examined. The principal quarries are: Northwest, 75 feet wide by 135 feet long, and 45 feet high at face; Lower End, 40 feet wide by 350 feet long and nearly 100 feet high at face; and Upper East, 50 feet by 150 feet and 50 feet high at face.

“Because of the varying degrees of metamorphic action, the limestone ranges from pure white coarse crystals to fine-grained, hard and compact marble, varying in color from white to black.

“The following analysis by Hanks is a general sample from the various quarries.”

Insoluble, 11.80 percent
Ferric and aluminic oxides, 0.79 percent
Calcium carbonate, 83.01 percent
Magnesium carbonate, 4.39 percent
Total, 99.99 percent
Lime Kilns, Tulare County, California – Limestone Quarries

Also see: Lemon Cove, Tulare County, California entries above. (Name changed from “Lime Kiln” to “Lemon Cove.”)

Lime Kilns, Tulare County, California – Limestone Quarries & Kilns (Limestone) – Excerpt from the Tenth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1890, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: State Printing Office, 1890, pp. 731.

Tulare County, by Myron Angel, Assistant in the Field.

“Limestone, Extensive deposits of limestone are found near Three Rivers from which lime is made. In addition to what was formerly reported, some good marble is found in the same region. Mr. Goodyear, of the Mining Bureau, visited this place and made some valuable suggestions in the burning of lime, which have been followed with good success at a place called Lime Kilns. This lime is now regarded as of the best quality, and is hauled eight miles to market at Kaweah, on the east side of the Fresno Branch Railroad. The supply of limestone appears to be inexhaustible, and a large business in burning is growing up.”

Lindsay (east of), Tulare County, California – Oat Canyon Limestone

(Oat Canyon Limestone – See: Lindsay, Tulare County, California – Simons Limestone Deposit below.)

Lindsay (east of), Tulare County, California – Simons Limestone Deposit (formerly known as the Abramson and Bode, and Valley Lime Company, and Oat Canyon deposit) (Limestone) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“Simons limestone deposit is in the SE ¼ sec. 6 T. 20 S., R. 28 E., M.D., 6 miles by road from the nearest railroad and 9 miles east of Lindsay. It is assessed to E. J. Simons, c/o General Machinery Company, Spokane, Washington. It has been formerly known as the Abramson and Bode, and Valley Lime Company, and Oat Canyon deposit.

“This deposit was last productive in 1932 and the limestone is said to have been used for sugar refining and in steel mills. Some lime was burned also in kilns near the railroad 3 miles southeast of Lindsay. It lies on a hill and has an exposed thickness or depth of 180 feet, elevation 1220 to 1400 feet. The outcrop extends for 800 feet in length northwest, with a width of 180 feet. The elevation decreases to the southeast. The country rock is schist and shale, and in the quarry floor little hummocks of shale are exposed, containing a few rotten boulders of sandstone. In one place, a layer of limestone 2 feet thick is interbedded with shale.

“The quarry is 75 feet wide by 135 feet long with a maximum height of nearly 200 feet. Rock was lowered in cars on a gravity tramway to a bin near the foot of the hill and hauled to the railroad near Tiffin.

“In 1930, a plant near the railroad was reported as being operated on limestone from this deposit, by Universal Silicate Stucco & Lime Products Company, but this company was not listed as a producer in statistics published by the Division of Mines. There is at present a good-sized building near the railroad which is said to belong to the owner of the quarry and to contain some machinery, but there is no equipment at the quarry.

“This limestone is dense, fine-grained stone varying in color from dark gray to black. A sample was taken across the deposit, including the quarry. The analysis made by Abbot A. Hanks, Inc., was as follows:”

Insoluble, 0.80 percent
Ferric and aluminic oxides, 0.76 percent
Calcium carbonate, 94.58 percent
Magnesium carbonate, 3.86 percent
Total, 100.00 percent

Moorehouse Creek (east of), Tulare County, California – Riverside Cement Company Limestone Deposit (Limestone) (Photograph from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

Plate 35-B. Riverside Cement Company Limestone Deposit – Sec. 29, T. 20 S., R. 31 E., M.D., east of Moorehouse Creek, Tulare County.

Porterville (southeast of), Tulare County, California – Boydston Bros. Limestone Deposit (Limestone) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“Boydston Bros. This deposit is 9 miles southeast of Porterville, near Worth (Franke, H. A. 30, pp. 444-445).* There is no record of any production in recent years from this property. The limestone is reported to be of good grade, and it is said it was once hauled to a plant at Worth.”

(* Herbert A. Franke, “Tulare County,” California Division of Mines Report 26, pp. 423-471, illus., 1930.)
Porterville, California – California Granite Company Quarry and Works, Porteville (sic), Cal. (Granite) (postcard photograph; A. H. Brooks Foto; early 1900s; unmailed.)
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – California Granite Company Granite Quarry (Granite) (from “Porterville Company to Quarry Granite,” San Francisco Call, Vol. 109, No. 67, February 5, 1911, pp. 18)

“Porterville Company To Quarry Granite – Concern Organized With Capital of $150,000. (Special Dispatch to The Call)

“Porterville. Feb. 4. – With $150,000 subscribed, and with the backing of the chamber of commerce, there has been organized here the California granite company, the purpose of which is to manufacture and exploit the Porterville granite in the foothills to the east of this city.

“Building stone experts have been asked to pass their opinion upon the local product and have agreed that there is but one other stone which equals it, and that is the granite found at Barre, Vermont.

“Spur tracks are being built by the Porterville Northeast railroad to the quarries where the black stone is found and a track will be put in later to the other variety.”

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – California Granite Company Granite Quarry (Granite) (from “Notes from the Stone Fields – Marble and Granite,” Stone, Vol. 32, 1911, pp. 148)

“A company has been formed at Porterville, Calif., with $150,000 subscribed, and with the backing of the local Chamber of Commerce, for the purpose of quarrying and exploiting the granite found in the foot-hills to the east of that city. The Porterville granite is of two kinds, a dark that is of nature of the Barre stone, and a lighter variety. Spur tracks are being built by the Porterville Northeast Railway to the dark quarry, and later will be extended to the light quarry.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – California Granite Company Works purchased land from R. Johnson of Visalia, CA (Granite) (from American Stone Trade, Vol. 14, May 1, 1915, pp. 27)

“The California Granite Works, which recently bought 40 acres of granite land near Porterville, Cal., has now made a further purchase for 20 acres in the same neighborhood from R. Johnson, of Visalia, Cal.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – California Granite Company (Granite) (from “California News Notes,” Lompoc Journal, No. 17, September 10, 1915, pp. 3)

“Adolph Pernu, president of the California Granite Company, returned to Porterville from San Francisco after a conference with labor leaders, and made the prediction that the granite cutters’ strike, which has been on now for several months, would be settled within the next week or ten days. Pernu expects the workers to accept practically without modification the offer of the employers.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – California Granite Quarry (Biotite Granite) (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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954.)

“California Granite Quarry. California Granite Company, 518 Sharon Bldg., San Francisco, owner; president, A. Pernu; secretary, A. Bocci; general manager, H. Beck. The quarry is situated 4 miles east of Porterville, in Sec. 27, T. 21 S., R. 28 E. Holdings consist of 100 acres. The biotite-granite is of medium coarse grain. Has a fairly straight cleavage and takes a good polish. The rock mass is intersected by a great number of joint planes, hence does not occur in large dimensions, but blocks large enough for ordinary building purposes are obtained. The supply of granite is practically unlimited. Two quarry faces have been opened up on the southwest slope of the hill. The general strike of the granite formation is NE.-SW. It is about one mile in width with serpentine on both sides. The rock weighs 180 lbs. to the cubic foot. The company also has a lease on 10 acres from C. A. Witt, on the Success and Porterville road where a small quarry has been opened in diorite, locally called ‘black granite.’ Plant: 25 H.P. steam hoist, two derricks (10”x10”), Ingersoll-Rand compressor, also surfacing and polishing machines and air drills. Twenty-five men are employed.

Number 1. Quarry of the California Granite Company, situated 4 miles east of Porterville. Photo by Walter W. Bradley.

Number 2 Quarry of California Granite Company.

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – California Granite Company Quarries (“White” Granite) (from “Tulare County,” by W. Burling Tucker, Field Assistant. Field work in June, 1916, Mines and Mineral Resources of San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, 1917, pp. 126-180.

“Granite. In the foothills east of Porterville and Exeter there are extensive deposits of biotite-granite, which are suitable for building purposes. Up to the present time (circa 1917) only a small amount of development has been done on these deposits.”

“California Granite Quarry. California Granite Company, 518 Sharon Bldg., San Francisco, owner; president, A. Pernu; secretary, A. Bocci; general manager, H. Beck. The quarry is situated 4 miles east of Porterville, in Sec. 27, T. 21 S., R. 28 E. Holdings consist of 100 acres. The biotite-granite is of medium coarse grain. Has a fairly straight cleavage and takes a good polish. The rock mass is intersected by a great number of joint planes, hence does not occur in large dimensions, but blocks large enough for ordinary building purposes are obtained. The supply of granite is practically unlimited. Two quarry faces have been opened up on the southwest slope of the hill. The general strike of the granite formation is NE.-SW. It is about one mile in width with serpentine on both sides. The rock weighs 180 lbs. to the cubic foot. The company also has a lease on 10 acres from C. A. Witt, on the Success and Porterville road where a small quarry has been opened on a diorite, locally called ‘black granite.’ Plan: 25 h.p. steam hoist, two derricks (10” x 10”), Ingersoll-Rand compressor, also surfacing and polishing machines and air drills. Twenty-five men are employed.”

(photo caption – same photographs as displayed above in 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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954.: “Number 1 Quarry of California Granite Company situated 4 miles east of Porterville. Photo by Walter W. Bradley.” pp. 142)

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – California Granite Company Quarries (“Black” Granite) (from “Tulare County,” by W. Burling Tucker, Field Assistant. Field work in June, 1916, Mines and Mineral Resources of San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, 1917, pp. 126-180.

“Granite. In the foothills east of Porterville and Exeter there are extensive deposits of biotite-granite, which are suitable for building purposes. Up to the present time (circa 1917) only a small amount of development has been done on these deposits.”

“California Granite Quarry. California Granite Company, 518 Sharon Bldg., San Francisco, owner; president, A. Pernu; secretary, A. Bocci; general manager, H. Beck. The (“white” granite) quarry is situated 4 miles east of Porterville, in Sec. 27, T. 21 S., R. 28 E. Holdings consist of 100 acres. The biotite-granite is of medium coarse grain…The company also has a lease on 10 acres from C. A. Witt, on the Success and Porterville road where a small quarry has been opened on a diorite, locally called ‘black granite’….”

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – California Granite Company Quarries (Granite) (from Mining in California, Volume 18, Division of Mines, 1922, pp. 527)

“Granite. California Granite Co., A. Pernu, president; A. M. Grindell, secretary, office 302 Builders’ Exchange Building, 185 Stevenson street, San Francisco. This company operates quarries near Porterville and at Rocklin, Placer County.

“Active operations have continued at the Tulare County quarry, described in detail in Report XV. The company has purchased fifteen acres including the ten acres formerly leased from C. A. Witt on the Success and Porterville road. Development of this tract has shown an excellent deposit of so-called ‘black granite.’

“This rock is of exceptional beauty, and is especially desirable for monumental and decorative purposes, selling for $3.50 per cubic foot, compared to $1.80 for the light colored or gray granite.

“The quarry is operated on the ‘American Plan.’ Twenty-five men are employed at present, but the number is being increased as fast as additional help can be secured. The company recently supplied the granite for the new Bank of Italy Building in San Francisco, and the management reports the future outlook to be excellent.

“There has been no change of conditions at the Rocky Point Granite Quarry and it remains idle.”

Porterville (northeast of), Tulare County, California – Gill Ranch Limestone Deposit (Limestone) (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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954.)

“Gill Ranch Limestone Deposit. In Sec. 13, T. 21 S., R. 28 E., on the Gill ranch, 10 miles northeast of Porterville. On hill north of Tule River there is a massive outcrop of coarse crystalline limestone.

“In Sec. 12, T. 22 S., R. 28 E., 8 miles southeast of Porterville, there is a lens of limestone in a granitic rock, which strikes northerly and southerly, dipping at an angle of 60° E. It is a white, coarse crystalline limestone which disintegrates very easily. The lens of limestone is 300’ to 500’ wide and about 1500’ in length. Fred and William Gill, owners, Exeter.”
- Porterville (northeast of), Tulare County, California – Gill Ranches Limestone Deposits (Limestone) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)
  
  “Gill Ranches are owned by Will, Fred, Emmet, Roy, Ralph, and Adolph Gill. These ranches comprise several thousand acres of grazing land, containing a number of limestone deposits. Among them the following are the most accessible.
  
  “In sec. 5, T. 20 S., R. 28 E., M.D., southeast of the Simons deposit, and 6 miles by road from the Visalia electric Railway, there is an outcrop of limestone on which no work has been done. It is dense, hard, finely crystalline and dark gray to black in color. A little farther southeast there is a smaller outcrop. Both are on small hills and the exposures are not sufficient to give a definite idea of possible tonnage, but they are similar geologically to the Simons deposit and superficially, at least, are smaller. A sample from the larger outcrop gave the following analysis:

Insoluble, 0.99 percent
Ferric and aluminic oxides, 0.64 percent
Calcium carbonate, 97.13 percent
Magnesium carbonate, 1.21 percent
Total, 99.97 percent

“Another deposit in sec. 13, T. 21 S., R. 28 E., was mentioned in a former report (Franke, H. A. 30, p. 445)* as being on land belonging to Fred Gill. A limestone deposit on land in this section now assessed to Pacific Portland Cement Company, but formerly part of the Holdridge Ranch, has been described herein under the name Holdridge, to which reference should be made, as any limestone on adjacent land would undoubtedly be similar in composition to the latter.

(* Herbert A. Franke, “Tulare County,” California Division of Mines Report 26, pp. 423-471, illus., 1930.)

“In sec. 12, T. 22 S., R. 28 E., 8 miles southeast of Porterville, there is reported to be a deposit of white, coarsely crystalline and loosely bonded limestone 300 to 500 feet wide and 1500 feet long.

Porterville (northeast of), Tulare County, California – Holdridge Limestone Deposit (Limestone) (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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954.)

“Holdridge Limestone Deposit. It is situated 10 miles northeast of Porterville, on Holdridge ranch, in Sec. 13, T. 21 S., R. 28 E. On hill north of house there is a massive outcrop of coarse crystalline limestone. The belt of limestone is about ½ mile wide, and can be traced for a distance of one mile. It has a north and south course. J. R. Holdridge, of Porterville, owner.

Holdbridge deposit is owned by Pacific Portland Cement Company, 417 Montgomery Street, San Francisco. It contains 115 acres in N ½ and SE ¼ sec. 13, T. 21 S., R. 28 E., M.D. The railroad is 1 mile south.

“This deposit is a partly eroded roof pendant showing contact metamorphism and the intrusion of dikes and plugs ranging in character from fine-grained granite and aplite to dark brown or black lava. The latter rocks are fresher than the dark granitic rock forming the basement on which the limestone rests. The deposit is on a hill and extends, with several interruptions, from an elevation of 870 feet (aneroid) where it rests on the basement rock, to the height of 1175 to 1250 feet (aneroid) where black lava has broken out forming the summit between limestone remnants. In places, as between 950 and 1080 feet elevation on the west end, the limestone has been completely eroded. The intrusives, the erosion, and the probable irregularity of the basement on which the limestone rests, would prevent any definite calculation of possible tonnage without more prospecting, but probably several hundred thousand tons should be obtainable by selective mining.

“On the east side of the deposit at 1070 feet elevation an adit 45 feet long is in limestone which becomes harder at the face. At 1000 feet elevation S. 45° E. a short distance from this, there is another adit possibly 200 feet long which was not fully examined because of poor air. For 50 feet it crosses a contact zone, then traverses white and light-gray coarse crystalline limestone for about 70 feet. There a black dike occurs.

“Some 250 feet west and 15 feet lower, is a quarry 45 to 70 feet with a face 40 feet high from which a few thousand tons has been produced. The limestone is white to black mottled, coarsely crystalline, and rather friable where exposed to the weather. The following analysis is of a sample taken selectively from different openings.

Insoluble, 0.50 percent
Ferric and aluminic oxides, 0.32 percent
Calcium carbonate, 94.60 percent
Magnesium carbonate, 4.54 percent
Total, 99.96 percent
- Porterville (northeast of), Tulare County, California – Holdridge Limestone Deposit (Limestone) (Excerpts from “Tulare County,” by W. Burling Tucker, Field Assistant. Field work in June, 1916, Mines and Mineral Resources of San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, 1917, pp. 126-180)
  
  “Holdridge Limestone Deposit. It is situated 10 miles northeast of Porterville, on Holdridge ranch, in Sec. 13, T. 21 S., R. 28 E. On hill north of house there is a massive outcrop of coarse crystalline limestone. The belt of limestone is about ½ miles wide, and can be traced for a distance of one mile. It has a north and south course. J. R. Holdridge, of Porterville, owner.”
- Porterville, Tulare County, California – the Holdridge Mine (Gill Ranches) (Limestone)
  
  (excerpt from mindat.org entry) “Holdridge Mine (Gill Ranches), Porterville, Tulare Co., California, USA “A former limestone deposit/quarry located in sec. 31, T21S, R28E, MDM, 2.5 km (1.5 miles) E of Porterville proper (in the city)....”
Porterville (southeast east of), Tulare County, California – Robert James Marble Deposit (Marble) (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

“Robert James, Porterville, owner. A deposit of dark gray marble, claimed to be suitable for building purposes; located 8 miles southeast of Porterville, on the road to the South Tule Indian Reservation.”

Porterville (southeast of), Tulare County, California – James Marble Deposit (Marble) (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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954.)

“James Marble Deposit. It is in Sec. 6, T. 22 S., R. 29 E., 8 miles southeast of Porterville, on road to South Tule Indian Reservation. A dark gray marble is found on James ranch, which is suitable for building purposes.”
Porterville (southeast of), Tulare County, California – James Marble Deposit (Marble) (from “Tulare County,” by W. Burling Tucker, Field Assistant. Field work in June, 1916, Mines and Mineral Resources of San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, 1917, pp. 126-180)

“James Marble Deposit. It is in Sec. 6, T. 22 S., R. 29 E., 8 miles southeast of Porterville, on road to South Tule Indian Reservation. A dark gray marble is found on James ranch, which is suitable for building purposes.”

Porterville (southeast of), Tulare County, California – James Marble Deposit (Marble) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“James marble deposit is mentioned in Bulletin 38 (Aubury, L. E. 06, p. 108)* as ‘a deposit of dark gray marble, claimed to be suitable for building purposes; located 8 miles southeast of Porterville on the road to the Tule River Indian Reservation’. So far as known, it has been idle in recent years (circa 1947).”

(* Lewis E. Aubury, The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, California Mining Bureau Bulletin 38, 412 pp., illus. 1906.)

Porterville, Tulare County, California – the R. Johnson Granite Quarry, Porterville, Cal. (Granite) (postcard photograph; early 1900s; unmailed)

The R. Johnson Granite Quarry, Porterville, Cal. (postcard photograph)

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – R. Johnson Granite Quarry – California Granite Works purchased land from R. Johnson of Visalia, CA (Granite) (from American Stone Trade, Vol. 14, May 1, 1915, pp. 27)

“The California Granite Works, which recently bought 40 acres of granite land near Porterville, Cal., has now made a further purchase for 20 acres in the same neighborhood from R. Johnson, of Visalia, Cal.”

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company – Porterville Granite Quarries (Granite) (from Friday’s Daily,” Madera Mercury, No. 32, November 30, 1912, pp. 3)

“From Friday’s Daily: On account of the many large contracts now held by the Raymond quarries for Madera county granite, Mr. A. B. McGilvray, manager of the McGilvray quarry, went to Porterville Wednesday to look at the granite deposits near that place with a view of investing.”

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company – Porterville Granite Quarries (Granite) (from “Granite Companies State Merge With McGilvray Quarries,” Madera Tribune, No. 109, September 7, 1928, pp. 1)

“Granite Companies State Merge With McGilvray Quarries – Through a deal just completed the McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company will have control of the granite quarries of the state with the finishing shops of the industry located at Raymond. Rumors of the merger were verified today by. A. B. C. McGilvray, who will have charge of the quarrying operations of the concern.

“Through the deal the Lakeside, San Diego county; Rocklin, Placer county, Porterville and Raymond quarries concerns are merged with the McGilvray concern.

“The concern will retain the name of McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company – Porterville Granite Quarries (Granite) (from “Climate, Diversity of Crops, Industry Bring Prosperity to County,” Madera Tribune, No. 52, January 4, 1929, pp. 4)

“Included in the important mountain industries of the county are the granite quarries at Raymond and Knowles. In a recent combination of the Raymond, the McGilvray quarries at Knowles and those at Porterville the cutting for all three quarries is now all done at Knowles. The Raymond and McGilvray quarries have combined into the McGilvray-Raymond corporation. The combination of the three concerns has resulted in the closing down of a stone cutting plant at San Francisco and another at Los Angeles, while additional machinery is being installed at Knowles. Seventy-five men are now employed in the McGilvray quarries, and this number will likely be added to if an expected increase in business materializes after the first of the year….”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company – Porterville Granite Quarry (Granite) (from “Stone Plant at Knowles is Nation’s Largest,” Madera Tribune, No. 27, December 4, 1930, pp. 3)

“Stone Plant at Knowles is Nation’s Largest – When, about 40 years ago, the first work was done in opening granite quarries near Raymond, it is doubtful that those pioneer quarrymen foresaw that their industry would develop into the greatest granite-finishing plant in the United States.

“Yet that is what the McGilvray-Raymond corporation has recently become through consolidation of the McGilvray Raymond and the Knowles quarries at Knowles and the acquisition of smaller quarries.

“The latter are located at Porterville, Tulare county; Lakeside, San Diego county, and Rocklin, Placer county. In each of these a different character of stone is secured. But in none of them is such a huge body of fine building stone as is found at Knowles.

“A few days ago a considerable quantity of black granite was shipped from the Porterville quarry to Knowles for cutting and polishing. This stone is used for building trimming.

“The Porterville and Lakeside quarries are equipped to finish granite for all its different purposes, but, for economic reasons, the company will soon centralize all its cutting and finishing at the Knowles plant, making that the largest such industry in the country.

“The average number of men employed throughout the year at the Knowles plant is 148. The average yearly payroll is $300,000.

“At present the quarry is supplying stone for the engineering building at the University of California at Berkeley and for the new state building at Los Angeles.

“Raymond granite has been used in buildings as far east as Ohio, as far south as New Orleans and as far west as the Hawaiian Islands. All the buildings of the San Francisco civic center, others at the University of California, the Los Angeles civic center, federal reserve bank buildings and stock exchange buildings at San Francisco and Los Angeles, the extension building at Sacramento, the city hall at Oakland and several county court houses in the state are built of this stone.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company’s Porterville Granite Quarry (Granite) (from Madera Tribune, No. 30, December 8, 1930, pp. 4)

“Mr. and Mrs. Harry McGilvray of San Francisco are spending a week with Mr. and Mrs. A. B. McGilvray. Thursday Harry McGilvray and A. B. McGilvray motored to the McGilvray-Raymond quarry at Porterville.
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company (Granite) (from California Mineral Production and Directory of Mineral Producers for 1930, Henry Heilbronner Symons, 1931, pp. 76)

“Chapman-DeWolfe Building Faced with Porterville black granite from the quarry of McGilvray-Raymond Corporation. W. D. Peugh, Architect. Cut by courtesy of Architecture and Allied Arts.”

Chapman-DeWolfe Building Faced with Porterville black granite from the quarry of McGilvray-Raymond Corporation. From California Mineral Production and Directory of Mineral Producers for 1930, Henry Heilbronner Symons, 1931, pp. 76

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company’s Porterville Granite Quarry (Granite) (from “Quarries Have Bright Outlook,” Madera Tribune, No. 120, September 21, 1931, pp. 2)

“Quarries Have Bright Outlook – The following by Newel W. Strother in the Fresno Republican indicates a bright outlook for the quarries at Raymond, which show a recovery from any business depression:

“One of the San Joaquin valley industries which are doing a good business and employing a good number of men and which will benefit by the government’s unemployment program, is the McGilvray Raymond corporation.

“This $2,000,000 concern owns or controls all of the granite quarries in California, including the biggest and best at Knowles, Madera county, and a black granite quarry near Porterville.

“The company has $1,500,000 in contracts for granite for public and business buildings in several western cities, and is employing at present between 150 and 200 men. The work under way includes such large structures as the San Francisco War Memorial building, the San Francisco municipal opera house, the San Francisco health center building, the veterans’ building at Salt Lake City, and the new postoff in the same city.

“In the last year the firm has built the Los Angeles and the San Francisco stock exchanges, a big Denver mausoleum, and the new engineering building at the University of California at Berkeley.

“This firm is the only large company in the United States which quarries the granite, cuts it, finishes it and places it in the building.

“Granite has been called ‘the ever-lasting building material,’ for its crystalline surface is practically immune to ordinary erosion. It is termed by A. B. McGilvray, vice president in charge of the Knowles quarry, as a ‘semi-precious stone,’ for the reason that it has life, color, hardness and many other prized qualities of semi-precious jewels.

“A granite mountain is formed when a certain kind of scalding lava boils up from the center of the earth and flows up through a crack. This in time hardens into a very hard stone, sometimes in large boulders, and less often as solid mountains of granite.

“The granite at Knowles is of remarkable uniformity of color. The depth of the deposit is unknown, but McGilvray estimates that there is enough stone there to build a bridge clear across the Pacific ocean.

“Granite is handled in large blocks weighing many tons. Holes are bored, small charges of black powder are set off in the holes. It has a ‘grain’ much as has wood, and will if handled right, break along fairly plane surfaces.
“The stone weighs 212 pounds per cubic foot, so that a block as big as an ordinary office desk will weigh many tons and must be handled with enormous chains and cranes.

“It is handled with tools which bear the names of wood finishing tools. The blocks are ‘sawed’ to the desired size. The granite saw, however, has a very soft metal circular blade, which, as it revolves, grinds chilled shot, imported from Scotland, into the stone and the shot do the actual cutting.

“Then if a column is to be made, the block is put into a ‘lathe’ capable of handling a section 30 feet long and weighing many tons. The outside may be rounded off and the inside of the column hollowed out at one operation. A steel I-beam inside the column actually supports the building.

“The surface is smoothed off with a ‘chisel’ operated by compressed air, which has replaced much laborious hand work in the granite works, so that 25 men can now do the work of 300.

“Ninety-five per cent of the granite produced in California is used for buildings, and 95 per cent of eastern granite is used for monumental work.

“The corporation stock is held by the five McGilvray brothers, two Knowles brothers, and Mr. Dresher, hence, it is largely a family. Business, in which the third generation of McGilvrays is getting its start. It owns quarries or sites at San Diego, Rockland, Colusa county, Bishop, Knowles and Porterville.

“The federal government will soon place orders for $16,000,000 worth of granite in carrying out its unemployment relief program in the western states. Of course, this company hopes to get a large portion of the contracts and if successful, will send many thousands of tons from this valley for the federal buildings. That will mean more employment for ‘our own San Joaquin valley folk.’”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – McGilvray-Raymond Company’s Porterville Granite Quarries (Granite) (from The Manufacturing Directory of Los Angeles County and District, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Vol. 16, 1933, pp. 419)

“Porterville Granite, McGilvray Raymond Corp.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – McGilvray-Raymond Corporation’s Porterville Granite Quarries (Granite) (from “This County Can Boast of Its Quarries: Madera Claims Several of the Largest Granite Beds,” Madera Tribune, No. 150, October 26, 1937, pp. 8)

“Madera rightfully can boast of its great granite quarries.

“One of the best known in this section is the old Knowles Quarry, which each year gives up a huge amount of fine building stone.

“Many districts, especially that around Porterville, continue to send a great quantity of black granite to Knowles for cutting and polishing.

“Stone from this quarry furnished much of the material for the construction of the engineering building at the University of California and for the now famous state building in Los Angeles.

“Granite from this section goes to all parts of the country and because of present economic conditions is even more in demand than that from the greatest regions in the world.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – McGilvray-Raymond Corporation’s Porterville Granite Quarries (Granite) (from California Journal of Mines and Geology, Division of Mines, 1958, pp. 394)

“…The stone was used as facing on buildings such as the Chapman-DeWolfe building at 341 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, but its most recent popularity was as a monumental stone sold under the trade name ‘Porterville Black.’”

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Porterville Black Granite (Granite) (from The Western Monthly, Volume 11, Truth Publishing Company, 1909, pp. 86)

“Porterville mines and quarries are an important item of wealth. Porterville black granite is considered the finest decorative stone found in the United States; and the lighter colored stone is now admittedly the equal of the finest product of New England. This industry has merely been developed on the surface, and the exploitation of great mountains of find building stone is but awaiting capital and business acumen.”

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Porterville Granite Quarries circa 1912 (Granite) (from “Friday’s Daily” section, Madera Mercury, No. 4, May 18, 1912, pp. 1)

“The granite quarries near Porterville are to be reopened.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Porterville Granite Quarries & A. B. McGilvray, circa 1912 (Granite) “Looking For More Quarries,” Madera Mercury, No. 32, November 30, 1912, pp. 3)

“Looking For More Quarries,” From Friday’s Daily.

“On account of the many large contracts now held by the Raymond quarries for Madera county granite, Mr. A. B. McGilvray, manager of the McGilvray quarry, went to Porterville Wednesday to look at the granite deposits near that place with a view of investing.
Porterville, Tulare County, California – Porterville Granite Company Quarry (Granite) (Photograph of the “Quarry of Porterville Granite Company. Tulare County,” on the California Geological Survey Digital Archive; photographer: Walter W. Bradley; 1916; Lantern Slide.)
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Porterville Granite Quarries (Granite) (from Coronado Eagle and Journal, No. 27, November 17, 1917, pp. 4)

“Grading has been completed on the Porterville Northeastern extension to the granite quarries.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Porterville Granite Company Quarry (Granite) (from Stone, Vol. 41, 1920, pp. 548)

“Quarry Owners and Monument Men Meet – The Granite Manufacturers’ Association of California, made up of quarry owners and monument men, held their third annual convention in Los Angeles the past month. A large delegation from San Francisco made the trip in automobiles, being joined en route by other members from Oakland, Hayward, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Raymond, Fresno, Visalia and Hanford. On their trip the delegates visited the quarries of the California Granite Company, the Visalia Marble & Granite Company, and the Porterville Granite Company….”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Porterville Granite Deposits (Biotite Granite) (from Mining in California, Volume 17, 1921, pp. 258)

“Granite. In the foothills east of Porterville and Exeter there are extensive deposits of biotite granite which is suitable for building purposes. Up to the present time only relatively small amounts of development work and production have been undertaken.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Porterville Granite Quarries (Granite) (from Mining in California, Vol. 18, Division of Mines, 1922, pp. 458-461)

“Granite. In the statistical reports of the State Mining Bureau for several years previous to 1916, granite was recorded as a subdivision under ‘Stone Industry’ or under ‘Miscellaneous Stone.’ Since 1916, we have given it a separate heading, as has always been done with marble and sandstone. Crushed rock, rubble, and paving blocks derived from granite quarries are continued under the heading of ‘Miscellaneous Stone.’

“The value of the granite output for 1921 was the highest of any year since 1892 with the exception of the year 1913. This is in part due to the resumption of building construction following the war-time curtailment, and in part due to the higher unit prices received for the 1921 product. Among the new buildings finished with granite, last year, should be mentioned the Bank of Italy in San Francisco, at the corner of Powell, Market and Eddy streets.

“In so far as it has been possible to do so, granite production has been segregated in the preceding table into the various uses to which the product was put. It will be noted, however, that a portion of the output has been entered under the heading ‘unclassified.’ This is necessary because of the fact that some of the producers have no way of telling to what specific use their stone was put after they had quarried and sold the same in the rough.

“Varieties. For building purposes, the granites found in California, particularly from varieties from Raymond in Madera County, Rocklin in Placer County, and near Porterville in Tulare County, are unexcelled by any similar stone found elsewhere. The quantities available, notably at Raymond, are unlimited. Most of California’s ‘granite,’ particularly that found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, is technically ‘granodiorite’ (that is, both plagioclase and orthoclase feldspars are present).

“Granite of excellent quality for building and ornamental purposes are also quarried at Riverside and San Diego counties. Near Lakeside, San Diego County, the McGilvray-Raymond Granite Company of San Francisco has recently taken over and enlarged operations at the quarry formerly worked by the Simpson-Pirnie Company. This is a fine-grained, ‘silver-gray’ granite of uniform texture and color, especially suited for monumental and ornamental work. A beautifully carved and polished vase and plaque executed from this stone by Mr. Walter Ghetti of the Western Granite Company, San José, is illustrated herewith. It was loaned to the State Mining Bureau recently for exhibit purposes (see page 273, ante).

“The Fresno County stone is a dark, hornblende diorite, locally called ‘black granite,’ whose color permits of a fine contrast of polished and unpolished surfaces, making it particularly suitable for monumental and decorative purposes. There is also a similar ‘black granite’ in Tulare County.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Porterville Granite Quarry (Granite) (from “Stone Plant at Knowles is Nation’s Largest,” Madera Tribune, No. 27, 4 December 1930, pp. 3)

“Stone Plant at Knowles is Nation’s Largest – When, about 40 years ago, the first work was done in opening granite quarries near Raymond, it is doubtful that those pioneer quarrymen foresaw that their industry would develop into the greatest granite-finishing plant in the United States.

“Yet that is what the McGilvray-Raymond corporation has recently become through consolidation of the McGilvray Raymond and the Knowles quarries at Knowles and the acquisition of smaller quarries.

“The latter are located at Porterville, Tulare county; Lakeside, San Diego county, and Rocklin, Placer county. In each of these a different character of stone is secured. But in none of them is such a huge body of fine building stone as is found at Knowles.

“A few days ago a considerable quantity of black granite was shipped from the Porterville quarry to Knowles for cutting and polishing. This stone is used for building trimming.

“The Porterville and Lakeside quarries are equipped to finish granite for all its different purposes, but, for economic reasons, the company will soon centralize all its cutting and finishing at the Knowles plant, making that the largest such industry in the country.

“The average number of men employed throughout the year at the Knowles plant is 148. The average yearly payroll is $300,000.

“At present the quarry is supplying stone for the engineering building at the University of California at Berkeley and for the new state building at Los Angeles.

“Raymond granite has been used in buildings as far east as Ohio, as far south as New Orleans and as far west as the Hawaiian Islands. All the buildings of the San Francisco civic center, others at the University of California, the Los Angeles civic center, federal reserve bank buildings and stock exchange buildings at San Francisco and Los Angeles, the extension building at Sacramento, the city hall at Oakland and several county court houses in the state are built of this stone.”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Porterville Black Granite & Porterville White Granite Quarries (Granite) (from Field Inventory of Mineral Resources on the Tule River Indian Reservation, California, Samuel W. McNary, U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1982, pp. 64)

“Between 1889 and 1933, granite valued at $700,000 was produced from quarries in the foothills east of Porterville and Exeter. The principal rock types quarried were dark-gray gabbro-diorite (Porterville black granite) and a pale-gray biotite granite (Porterville white granite). These rocks are found in residual boulders and in massive outcrops that underlie the low hills on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley. The rock was used as monumental stone, building stone, and curbing. From 1933 to 1953, production was restricted to small quantities of black granite….”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Porterville Black Granite Quarry (Granite) (mindat.org information about the Porterville black granite quarry)

“A former granite deposit/quarry located in sec. 29, T21S, R29E, MDM, 1.6 km (1.0 miles) SSW of Big Campbell (summit), E of Lake Success (reservoir), E of Porterville. First produced in 1915….”
Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – the Porterville White Granite Quarry (Granite) (from the “Porterville White Granite Quarry, Porterville, Tulare Co., California, USA” section of mindat.org)

“A former granite quarry located in sec. 27, T21S, R28E, MDM, 7.3 km (4.6 miles) E of Porterville, on the E end of Rocky Hill, NW of the Success Dam. First produced in 1915….”

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Porterville Granite Corporation (Granite) (from Rock Products, 1926, pp. 92)

“…Porterville Granite Corp…San Francisco, Cal., $50,000. A. Bocci, F. Bocci and Wm. Klein…”

Porterville (near), Tulare County, California – the Putnam Granite Quarry Company (Granite) (San Francisco Call, Vol. 103, No. 23, December 23, 1907, pp. 4)

“George W. Austin has announced the organization of the Putnam granite quarry company, of which he is secretary-treasurer. The company’s holdings are near Porterville and consist of a high grade of granite.”

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – Granite Deposits on H. J. Reinhardt’s land (Granite) (from Sausalito News, Vol. 27, No. 47, Novembe 18, 1911, pp. 1)

“Porterville. – H. J. Heinhardt, the owner of large tracts of foothills which are underlaid with granite deposits, has just returned from a trip to New England, where he was engaged in the task of securing the cooperation of Eastern capitalists in the exploitation of the Porterville quarries.”

Porterville, Tulare County, California – H. J. Reinhardt (Granite) (from Stone: Devoted to the Quarrying and Cutting of Stone for Architectural Uses, Vol. 33, 1912, pp. 540)

“H. J. Reinhardt, a quarry owner of Porterville, Cal., is endeavoring to interest capital in the development of Porterville granite. He claims that there are solid hills of high grade granite in Tulare County, suitable for the first decorative wok. The granite is a solid black and takes a fine polish.
Porterville, Tulare County, California – H. J. Rieinhardt Granite Quarry & Mill (Granite) (from “Granite Plant Sold,” American Stone Trade, Vol. 13, 1913, pp. 22)

“Adolph Pernu, of Rockland, president of one of the leading California granite concerns, has closed a deal for the purchase of the H. J. Reinhardt quarry and mill interests in Porterville, Cal. The purchase includes a black granite quarry on the South Tule; a quarry of white granite at the foot of Rocky Hill, just east of the city limits, and the cutting and polishing works in Porterville. Consideration was not given out. Mr. Pernu states that within the very near future he expects to put large forces of men at work in both quarries and he anticipates making the Porterville product a large factor in the Western market. Porterville black granite is regarded highly by experts, while the light stone is the equal of the best and experts have been unable to distinguish between it and stone quarried at Barre, Vt., and which has a world-wide market.”

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – the Success Granite Quarry operated by the California Granite Company Quarries leased from C. A. Witt (Granite) (from Mining in California, Volume 18, Division of Mines, 1922, pp. 527)

“Granite. California Granite Co., A. Pernu, president; A. M. Grindell, secretary, office 302 Builders’ Exchange Building, 185 Stevenson street, San Francisco. This company operates quarries near Porterville and at Rocklin, Placer County.

“Active operations have continued at the Tulare County quarry, described in detail in Report XV. The company has purchased fifteen acres including the ten acres formerly leased from C. A. Witt on the Success and Porterville road. Development of this tract has shown an excellent deposit of so-called ‘black granite.’

“This rock is of exceptional beauty, and is especially desirable for monumental and decorative purposes, selling for $3.50 per cubic foot, compared to $1.80 for the light colored or gray granite.

“The quarry is operated on the ‘American Plan.’ Twenty-five men are employed at present, but the number is being increased as fast as additional help can be secured. The company recently supplied the granite for the new Bank of Italy Building in San Francisco, and the management reports the future outlook to be excellent.

“There has been no change of conditions at the Rocky Point Granite Quarry and it remains idle.”

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – C. A. Witt leased the Success Granite Quarry to the California Granite Company Quarries (Granite) (from Mining in California, Volume 18, Division of Mines, 1922, pp. 527)

“Granite. California Granite Co., A. Pernu, president; A. M. Grindell, secretary, office 302 Builders’ Exchange Building, 185 Stevenson street, San Francisco. This company operates quarries near Porterville and at Rocklin, Placer County.

“Active operations have continued at the Tulare County quarry, described in detail in Report XV. The company has purchased fifteen acres including the ten acres formerly leased from C. A. Witt on the Success and Porterville road. Development of this tract has shown an excellent deposit of so-called ‘black granite.’”

Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – the Success Granite Quarry once owned by C. A. Witt

Also see: “Porterville (east of), Tulare County, California – California Granite Company Quarries” above.

Porterville, Tulare County, California – Rocky Hill Granite Quarry (Granite) – “Porterville at a Glimpse ~ 1900-1909,” by Debbie Salter, Secretary to the City Manager, City of Porterville, California, web site.

(excerpt from the above article) “One of the largest employers in Porterville in 1900 was the Granite Quarry at Rocky Hill, pictured right. The granite quarry was the birthplace of many buildings around town, including a new high school in 1905 and a library in 1908. The curbs on Main Street came from the quarry as did the granite borders at the Post Office….”

Rocky Point, Tulare County, California – Granite Boulder Quarry (Granite) – Included in chapter in “California,” by G. F. Loughlin, in the Mineral Resources of the United States Calendar Year 1913,

“...In Tulare County granite bowlders have been quarried near Portersville, and a gray syenitic rock at Rocky Point.”

Rocky Point near Porterville, Tulare County, California – Granite Boulder Quarry (Granite) (from Livermore Journal, Volume 6, Number 33, 2 May 1925, pp. 2)

“Involving about $39,000, one of the largest orders ever taken in Tulare county for granite work, has been signed by the operators of a quarry on Rocky Hill east of Porterville. They have contracted to furnish granite for a mausoleum in Los Angeles.”

Sequoia National Park, Tulare County, California – Rock Quarry, Sequoia National Park, Tulare County, Calif. (Photograph on the Calisphere, University of California web site; photograph from the Tulare County Library.
Springville (east of), Tulare County, California – Morehouse Limestone (Liimestone) (From “Tulare County,” by W. Burling Tucker, Field Assistant. Field work in June, 1916, Mines and Mineral Resources of San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, 1917, pp. 126-180)

“Morehouse Limestone Deposit. It is 14 miles east of Springville, on ridge northeast of South Fork of Middle Fork of Tule River, in Secs. 29, 30, 31, 32, T. 20 S., R. 31 E. Holdings consist of 780 acres. A belt of blue crystalline limestone about ½ mile wide by 7 miles long strikes NW.-SE. The croppings on the north side of the river are very prominent. Along the banks of the river are a number of soda springs from which thick deposits of calcareous tufa were noticed. Some of these deposits are quite extensive and have been developed by shafts and tunnels, showing in places a mass of material deposited by spring action over 100 feet thick. The limestone belt cuts through a formation of mica schist and granite. Riverside Portland Cement Co., 726 Mills Bldg., San Francisco, owners.”

Springville (east of), Tulare County, California – Morehouse Limestone Deposit (Limestone) (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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954.)

“Morehouse Limestone Deposit. It is 14 miles east of Springville, on ridge northeast of South Fork of Middle Fork of Tule River, in Secs. 29, 30, 31, 32, T. 20 S., R. 31 E. Holdings consist of 780 acres. A belt of blue crystalline limestone about ½ mile wide by 7 miles long strikes NW.-SE. The croppings on the north side of the river are very prominent. Along the banks of the river are a number of soda springs from which thick deposits of calcareous tufa were noticed. Some of these deposits are quite extensive and have been developed by shafts and tunnels, showing in places a mass of material deposited by spring action over 100 feet thick. The limestone belt cuts through a formation of mica schist and granite. Riverside Portland Cement Co., 726 Mills Bldg., San Francisco, owners.”

Three Rivers (southeast of), Tulare County, California – Ales & Connor Marble Quarry (Marble) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“Blossom Peak limestone is owned by Pacific Portland Cement Company, 417 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, and is in SW ¼ sec. 25, T. 17 S., R. 28 E., 1 mile southeast of Three Rivers and 9 miles by road from the terminus of Visalia electric railroad.

“…The small mountain called Blossom Peak rises steeply from the road level (900 feet elevation) to 1600 feet within this quarter-section. The decomposed rock forming the floor of the pendant outcrops in limited exposures 15 feet above the road level. It appears to have been basic igneous rock, and rather fine grained. An old lime kiln was operated here, about 300 feet northeast of the southwest corner of section 25, and limestone for it was quarried on the slope nearby. This quarry face, 85 feet wide, is diagonal to the strike and exposes an actual width of about 50 feet. A small marble quarry was also operated by Alles & Connor a short distance west some years ago. No work is going on at present.

Three Rivers (southeast of), Tulare County, California – Blossom Peak Limestone and Marble Deposit & Lime Kiln (Limestone & Marble) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“Blossom Peak limestone is owned by Pacific Portland Cement Company, 417 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, and is in SW ¼ sec. 25, T. 17 S., R. 28 E., 1 mile southeast of Three Rivers and 9 miles by road from the terminus of Visalia electric railroad.

“This is part of a large roof pendant of limestone and contact metamorphic rocks derived from it, occupying most of the section 25 and small parts of adjacent sections. The small mountain called Blossom Peak rises steeply from the road level (900 feet elevation) to 1600 feet within this quarter-section. The decomposed rock forming the floor of the pendant outcrops in limited exposures 15 feet above the road level. It appears to have been basic igneous rock, and rather fine grained. An old lime kiln was operated here, about 300 feet northeast of the southwest corner of section 25, and limestone for it was quarried on the slope nearby. This quarry face, 85 feet wide, is diagonal to the strike and exposes an actual width of about 50 feet. A small marble quarry was also operated by Alles & Connor a short distance west some years ago. No work is going on at present.

“In ascending the peak from the south, the outcrops seen were limestone with some siliceous layers, and the summit is limestone; but the continuity of exposures is interrupted by soil-covered benches, possibly underlain by strips of softer limestone. The deposit has a frontage of half a mile along the road on the south side, from west to east. If a depth of 50 feet of limestone is assumed over only 80 acres of the 160, there would be over 10,000,000 tons available.

“The following also own land in sec. 25, T. 17 S., R. 28 E., on which limestone occurs: Noel Britten, N ½; Daniel Alles, SE ¼ SE ¼; and Byron Allen, all of SE ¼ except SE ¼ SE ¼.

“A general grab-sample taken at intervals on the south slope in the southwest quarter of the section from the vicinity of the old lime kiln to the summit gave the following analysis, indicating what might be obtained from selective mining:

Insoluble, 6.10 percent
Ferric and aluminic oxides, 0.54 percent
Calcium carbonate, 92.43 percent
Magnesium carbonate, 0.90 percent
Total, 99.97 percent

“An analysis of a sample designated as ‘Mt. Blossom siliceous lime’ in a report made years ago by Sill & Sill, Los Angeles engineers, indicated 44.7 percent CaCO₃, 44.8 percent SiO₂, 0.4 percent Fe₂O₃, and Al₂,O₃, balance not stated. This was taken for use in a report on what was then called the Britten limestone deposit, and included land in other parts of the section, before the sale of the southwest quarter. East of Blossom Peak, silicification of the limestone has been much more pronounced and the more resistant rock rises to an elevation of 2500 feet. In the southeast quarter near the road and the granitic contact, metamorphic action was also noticeable, with the development of some calcium silicate, but not in sufficient amount to be of commercial importance, so far as seen.

“The Blossom Peak limestone in the SW ¼ sec. 25 as exposed on the surface is coarsely crystalline, gray to light gray, loosely bonded and makes a great deal of fines, in the parts not subjected to intense contact metamorphism. As noted before, some marble was produced years ago on the west slope, and in the more siliceous bands to the east the stone is fine grained and tough.”

Plate 35-A. Blossom Peak Limestone Deposit – Near Three Rivers, Tulare County. Peak is 700 feet above camera level.

Three Rivers, Tulare County, California – Britton Limestone Deposit (AKA Britten) (Limestone) (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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 775-954.)

“Britton Limestone Deposit. At Three Rivers, on the Britton ranch, in Sec. 23, T. 17 S., R. 28 E., a belt of limestone about ½ mile wide strikes across the ranch in a northwesterly and southeasterly direction. The rock is a blue crystalline limestone of good quality. Mrs. Eureka Williams and Mrs. Nellie A. Britton, of Three Rivers, owners.”
- Three Rivers, Tulare County, California – Britton Limestone Deposit (AKA Britten) (Limestone)“Tulare County,” by W. Burling Tucker, Field Assistant. Field work in June, 1916, Mines and Mineral Resources of San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, 1917, pp. 126-180.
- Three Rivers, Tulare County, California – Britten Limestone Deposit (Limestone) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)
Three Rivers (near), Tulare County, California – Lime Kilns & Limestone Quarries (Limestone) (Excerpt from the Tenth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1890, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: State Printing Office, 1890, pp. 731)

Tulare County, by Myron Angel, Assistant in the Field.

“Limestone, Extensive deposits of limestone are found near Three Rivers from which lime is made In addition to what was formerly reported, some good marble is found in the same region. Mr. Goodyear, of the Mining Bureau, visited this place and made some valuable suggestions in the burning of lime, which have been followed with good success at a place called Lime Kilns. This lime is now regarded as of the best quality, and is hauled eight miles to market at Kaweah, on the east side of the Fresno Branch Railroad. The supply of limestone appears to be inexhaustible, and a large business in burning is growing up.”

Three Rivers, Tulare County, California – Three Rivers Marble Deposit (Marble) (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

“At Three Rivers, 25 miles east of Visalia, is a deposit of a blue-black marble, suitable for burning lime and for building purposes.”

Tulare County, California – Devil’s Thump Limestone Deposits (Limestone) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“Devil’s Thumb Claims. This group of claims, in secs. 2, 3, 10, 11, and 14, T. 23 S., R. 30 E., M.D., was located years ago by A. P. O. Crabtree and others, Porterville. It is about 22 miles by road from the nearest railroad, including 4 or 5 miles of unimproved road. So far as known, the claims have not bee developed.”
Tulare County, California - Limestone Quarries & Kilns (Limestone & Lime) - Excerpt from the Tenth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1890, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: State Printing Office, 1890, pp. 731.

Tulare County, by Myron Angel, Assistant in the Field.

“Limestone, Extensive deposits of limestone are found near Three Rivers from which lime is made In addition to what was formerly reported, some good marble is found in the same region. Mr. Goodyear, of the Mining Bureau, visited this place and made some valuable suggestions in the burning of lime, which have been followed with good success at a place called Lime Kilns. This lime is now regarded as of the best quality, and is hauled eight miles to market at Kaweah, on the east side of the Fresno Branch Railroad. The supply of limestone appears to be inexhaustible, and a large business in burning is growing up.”

Tulare County, California – Limestone in Kernville Quadrangle (Limestone & Marble) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“Limestone in Kernville Quadrangle

“Upon a map prepared in connection with a report on the geology of Kernville quadrangle Miller and Webb (40)* have mapped large surface areas of limestone as follows, all being in Tulare County:

Parts of secs. 24, 25, T. 22 S., R. 32 E.
Parts of Secs. 19, 30, T. 22 S., R. 33 E.
Parts of secs. 1, 11, 12, 13, T. 23 S., R. 32 E.
Parts of secs. 6, 7, 18, T. 23 S., R. 33 E.

(* William J. Miller and R. W. Webb, “Descriptive Geology of the Kernville Quadrangle, California,” California Division of Mines Report 36, pp. 343-378, 31 figs., pl. 2, 1940.)

“These deposits are mostly on the east side of Kern River in mountainous country at elevations ranging from 4000 to over 6000 feet, and in a region devoid of roads except for the one following Kern River northward from Kernville to Fairview. The distance to railroad in this direction is prohibitive. On the west, the nearest roads are those on the Tule River Indian Reservation, and the highway passing California Hot Springs, each about 10 miles away and each about 20 miles from the railroad.

“This limestone has been placed in the Kernville series of metamorphic rocks, and its age has not been proven because of a lack of fossils or other positive evidence. The authors of the above paper, however, incline to the belief that the Kernville series is probably equivalent to the Calaveras (late Paleozoic) on the basis of lithologic similarity.

“The marbles are described as ‘nearly everywhere crystalline, calcitic, white to bluish-gray, thick-bedded, fine to moderately coarse-grained and almost invariably fetid. Beds of white marble, ranging from a few to several feet in thickness are associated with bluish gray and banded white crystalline limestone.”

Tulare County, California - Marble Deposits (Marble) - Excerpt from the Tenth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1890, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: State Printing Office, 1890, pp. 731.

Tulare County, by Myron Angel, Assistant in the Field.

“Marble, from several localities in extensive deposits; some of very fine quality in the Giant Forest in T. 16 S., R. 20 E.; also, near Middle Fork of the Kaweah, T. 18 S., R. 29 E. The marble is not of easy access, but, when roads are made, will attract attention by the fine quality and the inexhaustible quantity.”

Tulare County, California – Moorehouse Creek Limestone Deposits (Limestone & Marble) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

“Moorehouse Creek limestone deposits are owned by Riverside Portland Cement Company, 621 South Hope Street, Los Angeles. They include the Bluff, Rufus D. Morris, Mammoth, Jumbo, Bluff No. 2, Great Western, Travertine, and South Side patented placer claims, 997.59 acres, and possibly other unpatented claims in secs. 29, 30, 31, and 32, T. 20 S., R. 31 E., M.D. Springville on the Southern Pacific Railroad is 13 miles west by road.

“These deposits are so large that a great deal of time would be required to examine them and take proper samples. So far as known the only work done was that required for patent. The claims extend from the southwest corner of section 31 northward for 1 ¾ miles and for 1 ½ miles east and west. The South Fork of Middle Fork of Tule River and the Springville-Camp Nelson road cross the claims, which extend from an elevation of 3700 to 5500 feet or more.

“The deposits vary from spring deposits of travertine to high-grade limestones and siliceous marbles. Parts of the claims are covered by brush and timber. Two mountains form conspicuous parts of the holdings. The smaller is on the west side of Moorehouse Creek near the center of S ½ sec. 30, and near the line between Great Western and Bluff placer mines. A short adit has been driven near the creek. The stone here is in part white and coarsely saccharoidal, and in part is white banded with gray and not so sugary in texture. A sample taken here gave the following analysis:

Insoluble, 0.65 percent
Ferric and aluminic oxides, 0.34 percent
Calcium carbonate, 93.86 percent
Magnesium carbonate, 5.14 percent
Total, 99.99 percent

“The other (and much higher) mountain is a mile east of the first and occupies a large part of section 29, of which 340 acres is covered by three of the patented claims. It reaches 5500 feet elevation on the claims, and is part of one of the largest undeveloped limestone belts in the state. The country rock is granite and schist and there has been considerable metamorphism, with formation of marble and silicification of the limestone on the flanks of the belt. The geology of the region has not been worked out, but it is part of the Sierra Nevada and the limestone may prove to be either Triassic or Carboniferous.

“The following analysis was made of a grab-sample taken near the southwest corner of the Rufus D. Morris claim in order to show the general character. Near the surface the limestone is gray, medium to fine crystalline, rather sugary and easily broken; but in part is black, tough and slaty.”

Insoluble, 5.19 percent
Ferric and aluminic oxides, 1.10 percent
Calcium carbonate, 89.45 percent
Magnesium carbonate, 4.24 percent
Total, 99.98 percent

Tulare County, California – the Rocky Granite Quarry (Granite) (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

“Rocky Point Granite Quarry, in Sec. 8, T. 19 S., R. 27 E.; Griffith & Owens, of Exeter, owners. The granite is a gray syenitic rock, of very uniform texture and color, which splits readily in any direction and takes a fine polish. It occurs in large detached masses and flattened beds; the pitch of the latter is a little east of north, at an angle of about 30 degrees. These beds or layers vary from 2 to 25 feet in thicknesses, and are so situated that a back of any required height may be obtained to the quarry. The ‘rift’ appears to be east and west. All drilling is done by hand. Powder is used only to break the larger pieces, while the dimension stone is split by plugs and feathers. Any desired size of building stone is obtainable. The company also operates a yard in Exeter for dressing and polishing the stone before shipping. (See XIIth Annual Report of California State Mining Bureau, 1894, page 387.)

Ill. No. 21. Shed and Yard at Rocky Point Granite Quarry, Tulare County.
Tule River Indian Reservation, Tulare County, California – A 10-year-old boy’s life on the Tule River Indian Reservation in Tulare County, California, in 1883 from “A California Boy’s Letter,” Pacific Rural Press, Vol. 26, No. 14, 6 October 1883, pp. 287.

“Edward Smith, a little ten-year-old boy living at the Tule River Indian Reservation in California, writes the following interesting little letter to an Eastern journal:

“The Agency where we live is right in the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our house is on the bank of the Tule river. It flows into Tulare lake. It is about 70 miles west from here to the lake. A few rods from our house are two big Soda springs and many little ones. I go to school with lots of Indians. A Painted Rock is about one mile from here. It has Pictures of Men, Women, lizards, centipedes and many other things on it. I have a bow and arrows (sic) most of all of the Indian boys have them. There are some very big mountains around here. There are two Tribes of Indians on the Reservation the Tules and Fejans. There are many rattle snakes around here. There are many large granite rocks here. Porterville is eighteen miles from here it is our Post Office. It gets very hot here in the summer time. We have lots of fun here in the spring drowning out Squirrels, the Indians say for dog Boos, for man uohnoh, for woman Kiena, for baby witchep, for head otro, for eye sussa, for nose chinick, for mouth summah and for ear Tuk. If I write again I will tell you how to count in the Indian language.”

Visalia (northwest of), Tulare County, California – Grant Rock and Gravel Company’s Quarry (Serpentinized Peridotite) (from “Tulare County,” by W. Burling Tucker, Field Assistant. Field work in June, 1916, Mines and Mineral Resources of San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, 1917, pp. 126-180.

“Grant Rock and Gravel Company’s Quarry. The quarry is situated 8 miles northwest of Visalia on ridge north of St. John’s River. A hard serpentinized peridote is being quarried from an open quarry 350 feet wide by 80 feet high. The method used in breaking rock is to run a series of small parallel adits a distance of 50 feet in face of quarry. Then to drive drifts at Right Angles to main adit a distance of 30 feet, forming a T. The drift is loaded with 6 tons of explosive and hermetically sealed. The charge will bring down an immense amount of material. The broken rock from the face of the quarry is hauled a distance of 275 feet to crushing plant bins, in Kalvaugh New Model underslung carts – capacity 36 cubic feet. From bins the rock is crushed by two Austin No. 5 gyratory crushers, making a 1 ¼” product. From the crushers the material is elevated to two rotary screens (18’ long x 48” diameter) and screened to following sizes: 3/8” to ¾”, 1 ½” to 2 ¼”. All material over 2 ¼” returned to Symonds disc crusher. The screens have a capacity of about 100 tons per hour. The product from Symonds crusher is re-elevated and screened. Four sizes of material are produced, namely: Screenings: No. 1 product is 3/8” to ¾”; No. 2 product is ¾” to 1 ½”; No. 3 product is 1 ½ to 2 ¼”. The capacity of the plant is 1200 tons per day. Thirty men are employed. Grant Rock and Gravel Co., Cory Bldg., Fresno, owner.”

(photo caption) Grant Rock and Gravel Company’s quarry, northwest of Visalia.” (pp. 173)

Visalia (northwest of), Tulare County, California – Grant Rock and Gravel Company’s Quarry (Serpentinized Peridotite) (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 VI. San Bernardino County and Tulare County, California State Mining Bureau, 1919.)

“Grant Rock and Gravel Company’s Quarry. The quarry is situated 8 miles northwest of Visalia on ridge north of St. John’s River. A hard serpentinized peridote is being quarried from an open quarry 350 feet wide by 80 feet high. The method used in breaking rock is to run a series of small parallel adits a distance of 50 feet in face of quarry. Then to drive drifts at Right Angles to main adit a distance of 30 feet, forming a T. The drift is loaded with 6 tons of explosive and hermetically sealed. The charge will bring down an immense amount of material. The broken rock from the face of the quarry is hauled a distance of 275 feet to crushing plant bins, in Kalvaugh New Model underslung carts – capacity 36 cubic feet. From bins the rock is crushed by two Austin No. 5 gyratory crushers, making a 1 ¼” product. From the crushers the material is elevated to two rotary screens (18’ long x 48” diameter) and screened to following sizes: 3/8” to ¾”, 1 ½” to 2 ¼”. All material over 2 ¼” returned to Symonds disc crusher. The screens have a capacity of about 100 tons per hour. The product from Symonds crusher is re-elevated and screened. Four sizes of material are produced, namely: Screenings: No. 1 product is 3/8” to ¾”; No. 2 product is ¾” to 1 ½”; No. 3 product is 1 ½ to 2 ¼”. The capacity of the plant is 1200 tons per day. Thirty men are employed. Grant Rock and Gravel Co., Cory Bldg., Fresno, owner.”

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