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Home > Idaho > List of Quarries in Idaho & Quarry Links, Photographs and Articles
(The following list of Idaho 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 historical quarries in Idaho, please contact me. Peggy B. Perazzo)
Idaho Mines, presented by Digital Atlas.
According to this report, Ramshorn Quarry produced about 500 tons of slaty flagstone on private land and wanted to expand onto public land circa 2004.
The International Portland Cement Company began mining limestone in Lakeview. A little later the Spokane Lime Company began to mine the limestone in Bayview, and later the Spokane Lime Company took over the operation. The limestone deposits were found to be approximately 200 feet thick in the 1880s. Mining the limestone continued until both quarries closed in the 1930s due to deterioration of the lime in both Bayview and Lakeview and the raised Portland Cement standards. The railroad spur to Bayview was abandoned, and five lime kilns are still visible on the Bayview north shore today.
This article describes the formation of sandstone that was located near first the site for Fort Boise and later the site of Boise City and the sandstone quarried at Table Rock. The Boise sandstone was used in the construction of the first building in Boise, the quartermaster’s building in 1864, and as a building material for construction of buildings in Boise. The sandstone was also used for curbing and sidewalks and the jail. The author states that the “principal area in the Boise region was Table Rock...” The article also describes other areas where sandstone was located.
The article goes on to state that the exact location of the quarries are difficult to find today. Some of them were located in the foothills near Fort Boise, some which were worked by prisoners from the Old Penitentiary starting in the 1870s. The quarries became a part of the penitentiary. The penitentiary, walls, and other buildings were constructed with the Boise sandstone and can be seen still today. Photographs of the penitentiary quarry work and Table Rock quarries, which opened later than those at the penitentiary, are available at the Idaho State Historical Society.
It is noted that the Jellison Brothers quarried sandstone on Table Rock. Sandstone for the capitol building was to be taken from the Jellison Brothers’ quarry, so the Capitol Building Commission purchased the quarry and contracted with the Idaho Stone Company to cut the sandstone for the project. About 1911 the Boise Stone Company bought out the Idaho Stone Company. Prior to that the Boise Stone Company had offered to purchase the quarry, but the offer was declined.
Many of the buildings “throughout Idaho and the West” were built with Table Rock sandstone while the Boise Stone Company operated the quarry. The author states that since 1940 the Table Rock sandstone quarry has been idle.
Also see the entry above entitled, “Boise, Idaho - ‘Boise Sandstone,’ Advertiser Column by Nancy DeHamer, Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series, November 1970.”
According to this document, Table Rock Sandstone of Boise, was a stone producer in 2001.
According to this report, “Decorative stone producers again enjoyed excellent market demand. Table Rock Sandstone...quarried sandstone for landscaping rock in southwestern Idaho. (circa 2002)....”
L & W was one of ten companies honored as “outstanding businesses and contributors to their local economies.” Other companies honored in Lemhi and Custer counties were Three Rivers Stone Corporation and the OB Corporation.
According to the article, Three Rivers Stone Corporation was established in 1996 in northern California. The company operates quarries in Idaho, California, and Oklahoma. The Three Rivers Stone Quarry in Idaho produces quartz sandstone, and there is a plan for expansion of the quarries. The company also has a mining and distribution center in Custer County.
At the time of this article, which is not dated, L&W Stone Corporation was planning an expansion at its Three Rivers Stone Quarry near Clayton which would add 140 new jobs to the new processing plant and expanded mining operations in the future. At the time of the article, the company employed between 145 and 230 employees. A new stone processing plant would be built down the Salmon River from the quarry, and the plans were dependent upon court decision was to affect the starting date. The prior January L&W Stone Corporation was one of 10 eastern Idaho companies that was “named as outstanding business and contributors to their local economies....”
According to the article entitled, “No agreement reached in L&W Stone case,” by Todd Adams, in The Challis Messenger online edition, stated that the suit was originally filed on September 2, 2004 by Western Watersheds Project (WWP). In another article entitled, “Bill would allow L&W Stone to buy quarry,” by Todd Adams and published online in November, L&W Stone had won their latest lawsuit when their interim mining plan was approved. According to this latest article, under a House budget reconciliation bill, almost 520 acres, that includes L&W Stone Corporation’s Three Rivers Quarry, the federal government would sell the land to L&W Stone Corporation.
The article also states that all of the quartz sandstone taken from the Three Rivers Quarry is hauled to a processing plant in California. It is also noted that workers migrate from Mexico to the quarry to work there for the March to December season, although some of the workers live in Custer County, Idaho. You can follow this story on the online edition of The Challis Messenger.’
According to this report, “Dimension stone producers were in full production, and L and W Stone opened a new regional distribution center in Challis near Three Rivers quarry in Custer County (circa 2003)....”
According to this report, L and W Stone extracted more than 34,000 tons of stone from their Three Rivers Stone quarry which is located near Clayton in central Idaho circa 2004. L and W Stone Corporation is a California-based company.
According to this document, Rockworks in Challis, Idaho, was a producer in 2001. This company used a homemade slide to collect lichen-covered talus.
| B. View across Garden Creek at Challis. Light-colored tuffs are covered by dark rhyolite with columnar jointing. |  |
Idaho quartzite is used as a building stone in Idaho and as far as Canada and Europe. According to this article “Oakley stone” or “rocky mountain quartz” is the most well known of this type of stone and is mined in the City of Rocks area of idaho from a group of quarries “situated on the west flank of Middle Mountain.” The elevation of the quarries ranges from 6000 to 7500 feet, and the quarries are located about halfway up the west flank of Middle Mountain. This stone was well known throughout the United States by the middle 1950s, and is considered superior for its durability and color. The stone was successfully marketed in Canada and European markets by the early 1970s. “In Idaho, the quartzite veneer is commonly used to pave entryways, to cover fireplaces and to cover the exterior of homes.”
"L&W Stone's quarries produce 90,000 tons of natural stone every year, including our exclusive Three Rivers Stone®, the most unique flagstone quarried in the US. Three Rivers Stone® is a quartz sandstone which is sourced only from our private quarry in central Idaho. The quarry has been owned by L&W Stone Corporation since March of 1996 producing approximately 700 tons of Three Rivers Stone® each week.
"Three Rivers Stone® boasts very distinct colors including golden brown, light blue, plums and warm grays. This beautiful range of color is complimented by crystalline formations called dendrites-named for the Greek word meaning 'tree', which the formations resemble. The dendrites in Three Rivers Stone appear like fossilized leaves, but these delicate leaf patterns are actually the microscopic paths of water that has seeped into the stone and calcified. This beautiful stone is a very strong and tested building material, withstanding pressure up to 18,000 lbs. per sq. in. and able to endure extreme temperature variances."
According to this report, “L and W Stone expanded its Three Rivers stone quarry near Clayton....”
According to this document, in 2001 L & W Stone was one of the companies that was able to expand at the time. The operation mined “variably colored argillaceous quartzite.”
According to this document, the L&W Stone Corporation operated the Three Rivers Stone Quarry (an open pit stone quarry), is located on public lands in Custer County, Idaho, about 19 miles southwest of the town of Challis, Idaho, and 5 miles east of Clayton. The Three Rivers Stone Quarry was “located...near the confluence of the East Fork Salmon River and the main Salmon River.”
The stone taken from the quarry is described as “a unique purple to light gray/brown siltstone rock or flagstone, which is used as a building material for patios, walls, and other features.”
Three Rivers Stone Quarry is described as “the largest flagstone quarry in the United States....”
L & W Stone of Orland, California, which owns the Three Rivers Stone Quarry, wants to purchase federal land in central Idaho in order the triple the size of the quarry. The article describes the quarry as producing an arguilite stone in colors of “gold, tan, beige and purple hues.” Rep. Richard Pombo, Republican in California, is involved in this matter.
| Figure 28. (From Tertiary Volcanic Tuffs and Sandstones Used As Building Stones in the Upper Salmon River Valley, Idaho, Bulletin 811-E, 1929.) |  |
According to this report, “Building Inc., a Utah-based company, worked the Fish Creek quarry (circa 2000)....”
According to this document, Overman’s Western Stone, which was located in northern Idaho, was operating a stone quarry at that time.
According to this document, Idaho Travertine, which wais located near Idaho Falls in Idaho in 2001, was operating a stone quarry and cutting plant at that time.
According to this document, the Ash Grove Cement Co. quarry and plant were in operation and production increased 10% in 1997.
According to this report, “Ash Grove Cement Co. had another record year of clinker production at its cement plant at Inkom (circa 1998)....”
According to this report, “...Ash Grove Cement reported good markets this year for cement from its Inkom plant and quarry south of Pocatello. They shipped about 300,000 tons of cement in 2004, mostly to markets in northern and eastern Idaho, as well as mines near Elko, Nevada (circa 2004)....”
"I do not know if the quarry, per se, is accessible, nor do I know the exact location. A historical plaque in a rest area off US95 reads: 'At the top of this hill 3 to 5000 years ago, prehistoric men had a rock quarry where they made a variety of stone tools [from obsidian]. Projectiles, knifes, and scrappers were among the tools made by these early people who camped at the foot of the hill. These nomads hunted deer and other game, collected plant foods and fished in the river here. They had spears and spear-throwers for hunting and fishing, and mortars and pestles for grinding roots and berries. Archeologists have not yet determined when this industry shut down.'"
The company operates three quarries in northern Idaho, and they only use local granite. The following is quoted from their web site with permission: "Idaho Granite Works quarry is located in North Idaho thirty miles from the Canadian border. This is a family ran business, established in 1969. Their customers and friends receive the highest quality products and outstanding customer service. You will find that the granite from their quarry is unique. Its base color is a defined black and white mix with an abundance of quartz and mica that will add a sparkle in any light. They can select large pieces with heavy to minimal veining of white, grays, and shades or reds and pinks, depending on your preference. They can hand select from a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors of rock from their quarry. All their products are hand finished in our North Idaho shop."
According to this article, there are some old rock quarries located at the base of Number Mountain. Fossils can be found in the quarries.
The economy of Oakley (population 668) depends upon several rock quarries that quarry the Idaho quartzite, which is mined outside of Oakley and then transported all over the United States and the world, according to this web site.
According to this report, American Stone & Building Inc. was one of the active quarrying operations in Idaho in 2004.
According to this document, Oakley Valley Stone Inc. was one of several companies that quarried Oakley Stone, a “thin-splitting micaceous quartzite used as a facing and paving stone.”
Cascade Stone supply has been dealing in the natural stone quarry and distribution for over 50 years. The company has quarries in Idaho, Utah, Montana, and Washington; and the stone is used for “building veneer, paving, landscaping, and many other applications.” From their facilities in Idaho, Northern Stone Supply produces “Stone tile, custom hearths, mantles, benches, table tops, and other products from a variety of natural stone.”
According to this document, Northern stone Supply Inc. was the largest of several companies that quarried Oakley Stone, a “thin-splitting micaceous quartzite used as a facing and paving stone (circa 2001).”
According to this report, Northern Stone Supply was one of the active quarrying operations in Idaho in 2004.
According to this report, “New development activity was also underway for Oakley Valley Stone Inc., the durable micaceous quartzite dimension stone quarried south of Oakley in south-central Idaho (circa 2000)....”
According to this document, Oakley Valley Stone Inc. was one of several companies that quarried Oakley Stone, a “thin-splitting micaceous quartzite used as a facing and paving stone (circa 2001).”
According to this report, Oakley Valley Stone was one of the active quarrying operations in Idaho in 2004.
According to this document, the Rodriguez Oakley Stone quarry reopened during 1997.
According to this report, Scrivanich Natural Stone was one of the active quarrying operations in Idaho in 2004.
According to this document, Oakley Valley Stone Inc. was one of several companies that quarried Oakley Stone, a “thin-splitting micaceous quartzite used as a facing and paving stone.”
According to this report, “...Ash Grove Cement reported good markets this year for cement from its Inkom plant and quarry south of Pocatello. They shipped about 300,000 tons of cement in 2004, mostly to markets in northern and eastern Idaho, as well as mines near Elko, Nevada (circa 2004)....”
| B. Old quarry in sandstone bluff 3 miles southwest of Salmon, on Randolph Ranch Road. Shows massive usable beds near top. |  |
According to Paul Link, there is an abandoned slate quarry up one of the mountain trails by the trailhead. He relates that the slate is a part of the Inkom Formation. Slate quarried “around the turn of the century” was used on the exteriors of local homes, although it was found later that the slate was not of good quality. This was the reason the slate quarry was abandoned. The article describes the makeup of the mountain from a geologist’s point of view. (Paul Link is one of the authors of "Rocks, Rails and Trails.")
According to this report, “Decorative stone producers again enjoyed excellent market demand...International Stone quarried sandstone for landscaping rock in southwestern Idaho. (circa 2002)....”
According to this report, “A local resident started Diamondfield Quartzite to reactivate an old quarry at Warm Springs under an agreement with Interstate Rock Products, Inc. of Washington. American Stone (circa 2000)....”
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