
Industrial Minerals, Illinois State Geological Survey, Prairie Research Institute
Illinois Department of Natural Resources Regulations and Publications (Statistical reports are available online.)
“Georadar Investigation of Karst in a Limestone Quarry near Anna, Illinois,” Harvey Henson, Jr., John L. Sexton, Melissa A. Henson and Paul Jones, Department of Geology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901-4324.
greatriverroad.com covers the following regions of the Mississippi River Valley:
A. Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway: Illinois counties of Calhoun, Jersey, and Madison.
B. French Colonial Country: Illinois counties of St. Clair, Monroe, and Randolph, Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri
C Meeting the Missouri: St. Charles County, Missouri
D. Riverboat Country: Missouri counties of Pike, Ralls, and southern Marion
Illinois Fossil Sites – Where to Look for Fossils, Illinois State Geological Survey.
Illinois Geology, a part of Raymond Wiggers Gallery.
Illinois Limestone – Characterizing High-Quality Illinois Limestone, Illinois State Geological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, July 2011 Activity Highlights.
The Minerals of West-Central Illinois, Paul L Garvin and Gene Tribbey, Mineralogical Record, August 31, 2005 20:00 EDT, Bay Ledger News Zone. (The quotations below are from the web site.) (This link is no longer available, although you can view the site on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.)
<http://www.blnz.com/news/2008/04/23/Minerals_WEST-CENTRAL_ILLINOIS_1731.html>
Location
“The minerals featured in this report were collected from five operating limestone quarries near the towns of Biggsville and Smithshire in Henderson County, Illinois, and near the towns of Dallas City, Hamilton and Plymouth in Hancock County, Illinois (Fig. 1). Both counties are bordered on the west by the Mississippi River. The cluster of localities will be referred to collectively as west-central Illinois (Fig. 2).
Hisory
“The history of limestone use in west-central Illinois extends back to the time of early European settlement, beginning in the 1830’s. At that time, limestone was quarried as ‘dimension stone’ for use in constructing foundations for houses and other buildings. Because the stone was readily obtainable in flat slabs and, owing to its softness, was easily dressed, it was widely used for window sills and lintels, for exterior facings and as ornamental building stone….”
Mississippian Rocks in Illinois, Illinois State Geological Survey, Prairie Research Institute.
There are several great limestone quarries in operation around Chicago and other areas as far away as Kankakee and Joliet today. Some of these quarries cover hundreds of areas in area with some as much as 300 feet in depth. In addition to these active quarries, there are many others quarries that have been abandoned, some located within Chicago, which have been filed with excavated material and refuse.
These quarries for many years supplied limestone blocks used in the construction of buildings and sidewalks in the region. The blocks were also used to protect the lake front. Crushed limestone is used today to make concrete that is used in the construction of buildings, streets, sidewalks, and highways. Farms use limestone dust to spread over their fields to help increase the fertility of the fields.
This web site included a photograph of a former claypit, near the intersection of 111th and Southwest Highway, Worth, Cook County, Illinois, which is locally known to some as the “Worth Quarry.”
The Allerton Park & Gardens, Monticello, Illinois – the University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign
Chicago City Directories (pdf), on the Newberry Library web site.
Chicago Directories available on Google Books
(From the web site) “This unique Newberry Library document is an index to sketches on over 15,000 people and industries that appeared in forty-eight collective biographies and industrial guides. It includes volumes such as Chicago & Its Distinguished Citizens and Manufacturing and Wholesale Industries of Chicago. All of these volumes were published between 1876 and 1937 and they are all held within the Newberry collections.”
Chicago History and Architecture Tours (pdf brochure – includes tours of stone and stone-trimmed buildings in Chicago. There is a map located at the bottom of the last page that shows the area the tour covers.)
Chicago Landmarks, List of – presented on Wikipedia.
Graveyards of Illinois, presented by Matt Hucke.
greatriverroad.com covers the following regions of the Mississippi River Valley:
A. Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway: Illinois counties of Calhoun, Jersey, and Madison.
B. French Colonial Country: Illinois counties of St. Clair, Monroe, and Randolph, Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri
C Meeting the Missouri: St. Charles County, Missouri
D. Riverboat Country: Missouri counties of Pike, Ralls, and southern Marion
The History of Concrete – A Timeline
The following are some of the subjects covered in the history section of this site: Who Was Here; Building the Canal; Cities and Towns; Environment; Agriculture, Industry & Waterways. (The link from which the following information was obtained is no longer available, although you can view the site on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
<http://www.canalcor.org/canalhistory.html>Industry
“In digging the canal, large quantities of a magnesium-rich limestone called dolomite were exposed. Within a few years a new industry was born, and dozens of quarries opened in Lemont, Lockport and Joliet, creating thousands of new jobs. This heavy, durable stone was easily and cheaply transported on the canal, and was used in many buildings throughout the corridor, including the Joliet Penitentiary and the Chicago Water Tower. By about 1900 the local building-stone industry was largely eclipsed when superior Indiana stone came to be favored. Today the regional stone industry produces crushed stone, used in the construction industry and for erosion control along lakes. Quarries still operate in the corridor at McCook, Romeoville, Joliet, and Lemont.”
"The (toy model) JMJ Railroad (originally called Jamestown Railway) started in 1968 as a service to the rock quarries along the Bluffs in Illinois to carry rock to their loading docks on the Mississippi River at East. St. Louis. The original owners were two brothers, James and Steven Greathouse...."
"As towns continued to pop up and grow around the rock quarries and coal mines, the need to provide a form of transportation for the workers was evident. Passenger service began first to provide the companies with workers, then was soon expanded to provide transportation from town to town. By the mid 1970's the JMJ Railroad had track connecting all the area towns to East. St. Louis and held the lease to the ferry operation between East. St. Louis, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri."
Online Illinois Death Records & Indexes: A Genealogy Records Guide
Polo Historical Society, Polo, Illinois.
Quincy Museum, Quincy, Illinois.
(From the web site) “The 2 ½ acre lot was purchased by Mr. Newcomb for $11,000 on April 10, 1880 and originally had a Greek revival home on the site. Newcomb had that house razed to make room for his new home.
“The house was built of buff colored Berea Sandstone in the Richardson Romanesque Revival Style named for Boston architecture, Henry Hobson Richardson whose work set a new standard and direction for American architecture. The sandstone was mined from the Berea Formation near Amherst, Ohio, about 25 miles west of Cleveland….”
"This Gothic revival building, with great flying buttresses, is faced with Indiana limestone and has a base inset with stones from famous structures throughout the world, such as the Westminister Abbey, the Taj Mahal, and the Great Wall of China." This site lists the origin of the 136 stones placed in the exterior of the Tribune Tower from all around the world.
I & M Canal History
The following are some of the subjects covered in the history section of this site: Who Was Here; Building the Canal; Cities and Towns; Environment; Agriculture, and Industry & Waterways. The following quote is taken from the "Agriculture, Industry, and Waterways" section of this site. (The section from which the following information was taken is no longer available, you can view the site on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.)
<http://www.canalcor.org/canalhistory.html>Industry
"In digging the canal, large quantities of a magnesium-rich limestone called dolomite were exposed. Within a few years a new industry was born, and dozens of quarries opened in Lemont, Lockport and Joliet, creating thousands of new jobs. This heavy, durable stone was easily and cheaply transported on the canal, and was used in many buildings throughout the corridor, including the Joliet Penitentiary and the Chicago Water Tower. By about 1900 the local building-stone industry was largely eclipsed when superior Indiana stone came to be favored. Today the regional stone industry produces crushed stone, used in the construction industry and for erosion control along lakes. Quarries still operate in the corridor at McCook, Romeoville, Joliet, and Lemont."
Illinois Voluntary Limestone Program Producer Information, produced by Illinois Department of Agriculture and Illinois Department of Transportation.
“Joliet Limestone: The Rise and Fall of a Nineteenth Century Building Material and Its Architectural Impact on the Joliet, Illinois Area” (pdf), Quarterly Publication, Will County Historical Society, Winter, 1997, pp. 268-274.
Limestone Quarry Report (This article was originally published on October 11, 2007 and expired on November 1, 2007. It is provided here for archival purposes and may contain dated information.)
(From the web site) “This booklet lists the limestone quarries throughout Illinois by county and then reports the quality of their agricultural limestone. Individual copies of this report are available at no charge by contacting the IL Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 19281, State Fairgrounds, Springfield, IL 62794-9281 phone (217) 782-3817 or by going to their website at http://www.agr.state.il.us/news/publications.html to download an electronic copy.”
Niagara Limestone, Nature Bulletin No. 282-A, November 11, 1967, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Richard B. Ogilvie, President, Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt. of Conservation.
(From the web site) “Chicago stands at the crossroads of America -- the heart of the Middle West -- and one of the most important natural resources upon which it depends is the Niagara limestone beneath it….”
“Years ago, these quarries supplied blocks of limestone for the buildings and sidewalks of this region. Miles and miles of such blocks protect our lake front. Today, crushed limestone is used in making the concrete that goes into the construction of buildings, streets, sidewalks and highways….”
"The coral reefs belong to the middle Silurian, - the Niagaran Series, - part of a geologic complex surrounding the Michigan Basin, and taking its name from the famous waterfall between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. It's amazing to think that same rock underlies parts of Illinois. But it does!
"Following the Chicago fire of 1871 the need for more substantial fireproof buildings was obvious. Stone and brick this time! Much of the stone used was a dolomite belonging to the Silurian Period. Quarries near Joliet and Lemont produced great quantities - calling it 'Joliet Marble' or 'Athens marble.' (The famous surviving Chicago Water Tower was made of it prior to the fire). It weathers to a pleasing yellowish color, but in the process, has also been known to exfoliate - not desired by most architects! Limestone from Indiana soon replaced the local Silurian dolomite as a building stone. No peeling from it."
The types of building stone available in the area are siliceous limestone, argillaceous limestone, and sandstone. The limestone on Cooperas creek was used for heavy work. A large amount of sandstone was quarried on the west side of the east fork of Little Wabash river. This sandstone was used in the construction of the of culverts on the Illinois Central Railroad. Two miles southeast of Shelbyville gray sandstone was quarried. Some of this sandstone was used as grindstones. On Sand Creek and west of the Kaskaskia River about four or five miles northeast of Shelbyville limestone was quarried for the construction of the Shelbyville railroad bridge. West of Robinson's Creek there was a deep blue argillaceous limestone. The article notes that this limestone was only good for rip-rap or culverts.
The following stone companies and quarries were listed in a table of distances on page 50 of the above-cited book: Davidson’s Quarry, Penitentiary, Western Stone Co. Quarry No. 9, Joliet Lime Stone Co., American Stone Co., Kearns, Prendergast & Bender, Western Stone Co. Quarry No. 7, Erickson’s Quarry, Western Stone Quarry No. 6, Western Stone Co. Quarry No. 5, Western Stone Co. Quarry No. 4, Western Stone Co. Quarry Nos. 2 and 3, Illinois Stone Co., and Western Stone Co. Quarry No. 1.
John Augustine’s business card reads:
“John Augustine MARBLE WORKER AND CARVER –– MONUMENTS AND TOMBSTONES, I respectfully solicit a share of your patronage, WILMINGTON, ILLINOIS”
Niels Heldt Henriksen & his son, Thorvald Henriksen, Chicago, Illinois (Carver, sculptor in the Gall & Company monument shop, & architectural stone-carver and contractor, Mount Olive Monument Company (The following is (from Manufacturing and Wholesale Industries of Chicago, Josiah Seymour Currey, vol. 3, Chicago: Thomas B. Poole Co., 1918, pp. 258-259, available on Google Books) (For information on the Mount Olive Monument Company, please visit the Illinois List of Quarries section of our web site using the preceding link.)
N. Heldt Henriksen
“N. Heldt Henriksen, the founder of this important enterprise (Mount Olive Monument Company), had achieved national reputation as a sculptor and as a creator of the finest type of designs for monumental work, his talent having become noteworthy even in his boyhood, when he produced remarkable specimens of carving in wood and other material. He was born at Aarhus, Denmark, on the 24th of January, 1869, a son of Heldt Henriksen, who was a farmer by vocation. At the age of eighteen years Mr. Henriksen came to the United States and established his residence in Chicago, where he found employment as a stone carver, a work in which he had become specially skillful. For a few years he held the position as carver and sculptor of the monument shops of Gall & Company, and he then determined to establish himself independently as an architectural stone-carver and contractor. His first contract was for the production of the ornamental stone work of the city hall in Omaha, Nebraska, and he developed a substantial and prosperous contracting business, in connection with which he greatly enhanced his reputation as a professional artist in stone work. He continued his activities as a contractor until he became associated with his brother Emanuel in founding the Mount Olive Monument Company, as noted in a preceding paragraph. Of this company he continued the president until his death. Among the many fine examples of the professional skill and artistry of Mr. Henriksen may be noted the great granite lions that adorn the façade of the E. J. Lehmann mausoleum, in Waldheim cemetery, Chicago; the state seal of Indiana as produced in Montello Granite and placed in the monument dedicatory of that state. His ability as a sculptor led also to his receiving commissions for the carving of marble busts of various persons of distinction. It is worthy of special note in this review that Niels Heldt Henriksen also designed and executed a statue of a bull buffalo and that the same has been pronounced by the highest authorities to be a wonderful and faithful reproduction. Duplicates of this celebrated statue found a wide sale throughout the United States, and demands for the same still continue. The size of the statue is eighteen by thirteen by seven inches, and on the design and product Mr. Henriksen was granted copyright (No. 53303, G. class) December 19, 1916, only a few days prior to his death. He was engaged in designing and carving the artistic stone ornamentation that mark the front of the Hearst building in Chicago when he was stricken with pneumonia, the attack resulting in his death on the 29th of January, 1917. Mr. Henriksen was a man of lofty ideals, fine mentality and noble character, – a sterling citizen who commanded unqualified popular esteem. He was a charter member of Chicago Lodge, No. 18, Danish Brotherhood, this having been the first lodge chartered in the United States and he having thereafter shown most lively interest in the general development of the organization, which now has more than one thousand lodges in the United States. His religious faith was that of the Lutheran church, of which his widow likewise is an earnest communicant.
“Mr. Henriksen was happily married early in life and his widow still retains her residence in Chicago. They became the parents of seven children, and the eldest son, Jens, is now vice-president of the Mount Olive Monument Company. The younger son, Thorvald, has inherited much of his father’s talent as a sculptor and has perfected the same through study and practical experience gained under most auspicious conditions. He has already achieved distinction as an artist and sculptor and he devotes much of his time and attention to the designing of the finer pieces of art sculpture that are manufactured by the Mount Olive Monument Company in the filling of its most important contracts. His honored father is an active and valued member of the Chicago Art Institute, and was widely and favorably known in the representative art circles of the United States, his fraternal alliances having included membership in the Humboldt Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and the Hesperia Lodge No. 111, A. F. A. M.”
“Henry Miller, a Germany immigrant, made his living carving hearths, fireplace mantels, and gravestones for 19 th-century Naperville residents. Behind Miller’s shop, visitors can view the equipment used by workers who cut and hauled huge blocks out of the limestone quarries that were a major industry in mid 19th-century Naperville.” (Visit the web site above to view photographs of the Stonecarver’s Shop.)
(Biography of Charles A. Pfeiffer, from Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, September 1892, Vol. V, No. IV, pp. 400. A photograph of Charles A. Pfeiffer is presented as the Frontispiece of this magazine issue on pp. 365. This book is available on Google Book Search - Full View Books.)
“Chas. A. Pfeiffer, the subject of our frontispiece, was born in Sigmaringen, Hohenzollern, Germany, Dec. 19, 1844, and is therefore at present in his forty-eighth year. Four years after his birth his father emigrated to America, and a year later his mother followed taking her son with her. His father was a practical stone-cutter, at which trade he readily found employment in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, respectively, in which cities the son was given the benefits of a common school education. While yet a mere lad he assisted his father in his labors and the thorough methods acquired by the father in the mother country were gradually instilled into the mind of young Pfeiffer, who was also taught how to sketch and draw, to estimate on cut-stone work and prepare himself generally for the requirements of the trade he had adopted. Having acquired a thorough common school education, he entered a commercial college attending evening sessions. At the age of 24 he became his father’s associate in the business which had been established eight years before, and the firm name was changed to J. Pfeiffer & Son, under which title it was conducted until 1881, when it was incorporated under the laws of Missouri as the Pfeiffer Stone Co., of which Charles A. is president, with headquarters at St. Joseph, Mo. At the annual meeting of the Missouri Valley Cut-Stone Contractors’ and Quarrymen’s Association, held at Kansas City, Mo., Jan. 26, 1892, Mr. Pfeiffer was elected its president and was delegated to attend the convention of the Ohio Valley Association for the purpose of effecting relations insuring a uniformity of action relative to issues affecting cut-stone contractors generally and those of the Ohio and Missouri valleys particularly. This he accomplished to the satisfaction of both organizations.”
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