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Home > Colorado > List of Quarries in Colorado & Quarry Links, Photos...
The following list of Colorado quarries is not a complete list of
all of the historical quarries in the state, only the ones I have been
able to locate. If you know of more quarries in Colorado that are not listed here,
please contact me.
Peggy B. Perazzo
Quarries in Colorado (present-day, active quarries), listed on Superyellowpages.com.
Stone Mining and Quarrying, by gy.com – Lists of active stone producers in the United States (Scroll to the bottom of each page.)
| This photograph is taken from Prairie, Peak and Plateau: A Guide to the Geology of Colorado, Colorado Geological Survey Bulletin 32, by John and Halka Chronic, 1972, pg. 98. Used with the permission of the Colorado Geological Survey.) |  |
(The following is taken from "Prairie, Peak and Plateau: A Guide to the Geology of Colorado," Colorado Geological Survey Bulletin 32, by John and Halka Chronic, 1972, pg. 99. If you wish a copy, write to the Colorado Geological Survey, 1845 Sherman Street, Denver, Colorado 80203. Used with the permission of the Colorado Geological Survey.) The accompanying photograph is taken from the above publication.
"In Colorado, as in most parts of the world, building stone for local use is quarried locally. Two of the state's stones, however - Yule Marble from the Crystal River Canyon, and Lyons Sandstone of the Front Range - have been more widely used.
"The Yule Marble, or Yule Colorado Marble, was produced by metamorphism of Leadville Limestone in an area intruded by the Treasure Mountain Granite, thirty-five miles south of Glenwood Springs. This exquisite marble, which has graced many famous monuments and buildings (among them the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier), is known for its almost uniform snowy whiteness and regular, fine crystallization. Although its beauty, massive character, and uniformity made it a sought-after ornamental stone, quarrying was economically marginal because of the remoteness of the site. In spite of this, nearly $7,000,000 worth of the marble was produced before the quarry closed in 1940."
| This photograph is taken from Prairie, Peak and Plateau: A Guide to the Geology of Colorado,Colorado Geological Survey Bulletin 32, by John and Halka Chronic, 1972, pg. 99. Used with the permission of the Colorado Geological Survey.) |  |
The caption reads as follows:
"Quarrying of Paleozoic limestones and dolomites along the east flank of the Rampart Range northwest of Colorado Springs has badly defaced a prominent mountain backdrop. Recent seeding efforts by quarry operators are returning the exhausted part of the quarry to its original lightly vegetated condition, and hopefully, as the quarry is depleted, the scar will disappear."
“Incorporated – The American Marble Company, Denver, Colo. The directors of the company are William B. Willard, John W. Starkweather and John H. Routt. The capital stock is $200,000. The company will operate in Colorado.”
The McFarlane-Eggers Machinery Co.
2763 Blake St., Denver, Colo.
A Gasoline Locomotive with a Ford Engine Power Plant
adapted for very short curves
18 in. to 36 in. Gauge
300-lb. – 600 lb. Draw-bar Pull
Practical – Economical
Send for Catalog
The Mine & Smelter Supply Co., Denver, Colo.
It Couldn’t be Anything Else but the best if it’s
The Durkee Lightning Drill.
Is driven by an electric motor. Will do the same amount of work as an air drill of same size and only requires one-tenth the power to operate. Does not stick in the hole. Can be operated by direct or alternating current as desired. Strikes about 600 blows per minute. Costs but 1/3 to 1/2 as much to install as other drills.
See Our Catalogue for Details.
Work has begun on the construction of the new Portland cement plant at Florence, Colo.
Work is progressing rapidly on the 1,000-barrel Portland cement plant being erected near Florence, Colorado. The company has just purchased two large tracts of land containing lime rock.
Colorado Alabaster Supply Quarry (Choose the “Gallery & Links” link in the menu to view photographs of finished sculptures and the quarrying of the stone.)
| "Just west of Garfield, Colorado this limestone quarry still produces 500,000 tons of limestone a year. Colorado Fuel and Iron Corp. purchased this small quarry in 1931 and uses the limestone as a fluxing agent. Elevation is 10 to 11 thousand feet. Tours usually given during summer. Presented by Salida Museum Assoc." (postcard photograph, 12919-D; published and photograph by Collegiate Photography Ltd., Salida, Colorado 81201; made by Dexter Press, West Nyack, New York; unmailed) |  |
“A Gilroy, Colo., paper states that a Mr. Martin is to open a marble yard there ‘as a further inducement to old residents to remain with their remains.’ This is enterprise!”
Longmont, Colorado - Blue Mountain Stone, Inc. Sandstone Quarry (present-day company) (photographs and history)
Blue Mountain Stone, Inc, has been in the business of quarrying and shipping Colorado sandstone since 1977; and the company owns and operates their own quarries. The company also operates quarries in New Mexico.
(The following is taken from Prairie, Peak and Plateau: A Guide to the Geology of Colorado, Colorado Geological Survey Bulletin 32, by John and Halka Chronic, 1972, pg. 99. If you wish a copy, write to the Colorado Geological Survey, 1845 Sherman Street, Denver, Colorado 80203. Used with the permission of the Colorado Geological Survey.)
"The Lyons area, north of Boulder, provides pink, hard, even-grained sandstone which splits readily into slabs or flagstones. These are used in the Denver-Boulder area for sidewalks and patios as well as for facing buildings. Quarries owned by the University of Colorado provide a constant supply of handsome facing material and flagstone for new university buildings, although in recent years the high cost of stone construction has limited its use on the campus."
"The Lyons Sandstone was deposited as beach and bar sand along the edge of a sea which lay east of the Front Range in Permian time. After deposition, the sand was deeply buried and compacted. Now tilted up along the Front Range uplift, it comes to the surface along the east side of the range. Only between Fort Collins and Boulder does the stone have the desirable combination of hardness, thin-bededness, and color which makes it desirable for ornamental use. The pink color of the Lyons Sandstone is derived from iron oxides, mostly hematite, disseminated between the sand grains. Dendrites (often erroneously called fossil ferns or plants) ornament some slabs; they were formed by crystallization of manganese dioxide from groundwater as it slowly percolated through the rock."
| This photograph is taken from Prairie, Peak and Plateau: A Guide to the Geology of Colorado, Colorado Geological Survey Bulletin 32, by John and Halka Chronic, 1972, pg. 100. Used with the permission of the Colorado Geological Survey.) |  |
The caption reads as follows:
"Lyons Sandstone is quarried near Lyons, Colorado. The salmon-colored sandstone splits along surfaces defined by slight differences in size and arrangement of the sand grains."
(The link from which the following information was obtained is no longer available.
<http://www.lyons-colorado.com/stone_and_quarries.htm>)Lyons has fifteen sandstone structures which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These were all constructed of native stone by master craftsmen between the early 1870s and 1917. They include commercial, residential and public buildings. There are still quarries operating today that provide beautiful sandstone and other products to the surrounding cities and around the country. This site includes a list of present-day quarry-related businesses.
"Editor's note: Kenneth Jessen provides some background on stone quarries in Larimer County to add to readers' perspective on events surrounding recent and controversial quarries
"At one time, a vast stone industry existed along the foothills between Lyons and Fort Collins. One of the most active quarries was located seven miles west of Loveland on the ridge that parallels the Masonville Road. These were known as the Buckhorn or Arkins quarries and were developed in 1886 by the Union Pacific Railroad in an effort to increase its freight business. At the time, only a few ranches occupied this valley.
"The railroad needed a large order to get the quarries off to a good start. One potential customer was Kansas City, and samples of stone were shown to town officials. A contract was signed to supply all of the paving stone and curbing for the entire city. This single order amounted to 2,500 carloads of stone.
"The Union Pacific, however, had put the cart before the horse. At the time the contract was signed, there wasn't any rail service from Loveland out to the quarries. Work began on the railroad in early 1887, and at the same time, the UP sent men to the quarries to begin extracting stone and filling the Kansas City order.
"The number of men working at the quarry soon exceeded 100, and a post office was established that year at the base of the ridge at a place named Arkins. The Union Pacific also constructed a large frame boarding house, complete with a kitchen and dining hall. The kitchen had a spacious brick oven able to bake 70 loaves at a time. The dining hall could seat 280 men and as the number of quarry workers reached that number, six cooks were kept busy full time.
"There were bunkhouses for the workers, but supervisors lived in a separate bunkhouse connected to the boardinghouse by a covered passageway. A company store was added to one end of the kitchen. It carried overalls, hats, shoes, groceries and a few patent medicines. A second store, known as the Charles & Smith, soon opened at Arkins.
"Building the rail line west of Loveland to serve the quarries was relatively easy. The railroad ran west out of Loveland, past the south end of the Devil's Backbone, then angled northwest crossing the present-day Masonville Road. The railroad climbed up the ridge and after a mile, reached the halfway point. A switchback was used to reverse direction and gain the remainder of the distance to the quarries near the top of the ridge. By using this zigzag technique, the railroad maintained a reasonable grade. The old railroad grade can still be seen stretching across the hillside, and the stone abutments for both the upper and lower trestles across a small ravine are quite evident.
"The railroad made its first shipment of 11 cars of stone to Kansas City on April 7, 1887. Business picked up to 15 cars of stone per day. The Loveland depot agent soon reported that overall business had doubled both in passengers and freight service over the previous year.
"There were a number of different types of stone shipped from the Buckhorn quarries. Paving stone, flagging and curbing for streets and sidewalks were the primary products, while large foundation stones, weighing many tons, were also shipped.
"Each aspect of removing stone and shaping it was specialized. Some men worked at drilling and used wedges to break large slabs of stone free from the quarry face. At the bottom of the face, other quarry workers used wheelbarrows to carry the smaller pieces of stone across the tracks to the block cutters. Other quarry workers operated the numerous pole derricks used to lift large foundation stones onto the railroad cars.
"Some 45 skilled block cutters were brought in from Missouri. Most were Swedes and were highly skilled at their trade. A block cutter used a set of three hammers, all stored within easy reach with the heads down. The first step was to score the stone with one of the hammers then flip it over and tap it with a sledgehammer. If done correctly, the slab would break along the score. The third hammer was used to even up the edges. The finished stone was stacked neatly along the railroad track for shipment.
"Back in the 1880s, the brake systems on the railroad cars were crude and the quarries were plagued with a constant series of accidents. One of the worst accidents occurred in June 1887 at the upper quarry. Three fully loaded cars began to slip down the hill towards the switch. A worker jumped on one of the cars and began cranking on the brakes. They were defective and when the worker tried the brakes on the next car, they too were defective. The worker jumped as the cars began to pick up speed. At the bottom of the upper grade near the switch, the speeding cars struck another loaded car and wrecked it where it stood. The cars went through the switch, off the end of the track, and were totally demolished.
"The contract for Kansas City was filled in March 1888. The four quarry openings used to fill this order were abandoned and the men laid off. By May 1889, a stone crusher was installed, and the quarries were back to capacity shipping a dozen cars a day. Employment returned to 100 men.
"In 1904, stone from the Buckhorn quarries was selected for the new Denver Mint along with Tennessee and Vermont marble. Many other important structures in Denver, including the entrance to City Park, the Tabor Grand Opera House and even the State Capitol, were built from Buckhorn stone.
"The use of concrete as a structural material replaced stone foundations during the 1920s. Asphalt began to erode the paving stone business, and the industry dwindled to the supply of ornamental stone and flagging.
"The Arkins post office closed in 1906, and in 1926, a flood damaged the trestle of the Buckhorn Creek. At this time, 2.3 miles of track was removed and in 1937, another section of track was taken up. In 1965, a heavy rainstorm damaged beyond economical repair the plaster mill at the south end of the Devil's Backbone. The Buckhorn Branch was further reduced in length to Loveland.
"Today (Sept. 2001), the Arkins quarry remains in operation, but not on such a grand scale.
"For more information about Arkins, refer to Kenneth Jessen's 'Railroads of Northern Colorado'and Ansel Watrous' 'History of Larimer County, Colorado.'"
| Hoist That Takes the Marble to the Loading Station, Marble Colorado (unmailed postcard - Isler) |  |
| Load of Marble Leaving Quarry, Marble, Colorado (unmailed postcard - Isler). |  |
| Hauling Marble 9300 Feet Above Sea Level, Marble Colorado (unmailed postcard - Isler). |  |
| (postcard photograph;unmailed) |  |
| (postcard; Norman D. Taylor, Denver, Colorado; unmailed) |  |
| (postcard photograph by Isler; unmailed) |  |
| "This is a shot of a derrick (sic) at the entrance to the large room at the Yule Quarry, where marble was mined, thus how the town of Marble was named." (color postcard #73; Sebring's Transmountain Views, 606 W. New York, Gunnison, Colo. 81230; Color by Mike Roberts, Berkeley, Calif. 94710; C27364 - Color photo by Norman Taylor; unmailed) |  |
| (postcard photograph, No. 1436; early 1900s; unmailed.) |  |
Marble, Colorado - “Yule Marble,” presented on Wikipedia. (photographs and history - Also see the external links listed at the bottom of the page.)
Marble, Colorado - “The Marble Age,” in Sunset, June, 2001 by Peter Fish. (Article presented on the FindArticles web site.)
Marble, Colorado - Yule Marble Quarry, Colorado Yule Marble Co., and Marble, Colorado, Photographs are available at the History of the American West, 1860-1920: Photographs from the Collection of the Denver Public Library web site. (photographs)
Masonville, Colorado - Colorado Flagstone (present-day company) P.O. Box 63, Masonville, Colorado 80541. Physical address: 4301 North County Road 27, Loveland, Co 80538. Phone: 970-203-1072, Fax: 970-203-0130. (You will find photographs of the flagstone quarry throughout the web site.)
The following quotation is from the Colorado Flagstone web site:
“Since 1986, Colorado Flagstone, Inc. has been supplying stone masons, builders, architects and landscape professionals with the highest quality Sandstone.”
The sandstone quarries in this area during the 1920s were owned by the University of Colorado, and the stone was used to build many of the campus buildings, including Helms and Sewell Hall. Due to danger and high operating costs, the quarries were abandoned. In 1969 the City of Boulder purchased the quarries and later in 1974 the surrounding land was also purchased.
“Financial - The Pueblo (Col.) Limestone Supply Company; incorporators. D. Blackwell, E. C. Betts and R. A. Simpson. Capital stock, $10,000; principal office at Pueblo.”
“Another incorporation certificate filed was that of the Pueblo (Col.) Limestone Supply ‘Company, organized for the purpose of buying and selling stone, leasing and operating stone quarries for the purpose of fluxing and building. The capital stock is $10,000 divided into 1,000 shares of $10 each. John D. Blackwell, E. C. Betts and R. A. Simpson appear as incorporators and directors.”
According to the Pueblo County Historical Society’s web site, there was a quarry near Pueblo that quarried Turkey Creek Sandstone, which was used in the County Courthouse and other Pueblo buildings. According to the GlobalSecurity.org web site, Fort Carson was created as one of many new military installations in 1942 during World War II.
A donation of $15,000 from Andrew Carnegie provided the funds to
build the library in Trinidad. John G. Haskell, from Topeka, Kansas,
was selected as the architect for the Neoclassical library building
in 1903. The contract was signed by a local firm, Crouch & Smith,
in October 1903 to construct the library. The sandstone used in the
construction was quarried locally at the James Radford Quarry, and
William McDonald was the chosen stone mason for the project.
In this announcement, Polycor announced “acquisition of assets and rights of Colorado Yule Marble property owned by Sierra Minerals Corporation.” From that time Polycor announced it would be “distributing and marketing Colorado Yule white marble through its American subsidiaries.”
Commercial use of material within this site is strictly prohibited. It is not to be captured, reworked, and placed inside another web site. © . All rights reserved. Peggy B. and George (Pat) Perazzo.