Quarries in Missouri & Quarry Links, Photographs, and Articles
Stillwell thru Walnut Grove

• Stillwell (near), Missouri – the Kansas City Marble and Lime Works (excerpt from Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, December 1897, Vol. XVI, No. 1, “Notes from Quarry and Shop” section, pp. 86.)

  “Incorporated: The Kansas City Marble and Lime Works, Kansas City, Mo., capitalized for $100,000. The company has leased valuable marble quarries near Stillwell, about 270 miles from Kansas City. The marble taken from the quarries, according to exhaustive analysis, is of an excellent quality for building and tombstone purposes, being susceptible of a beautiful polish. Some of the marble is of a del icate pink, while other samples are of a tasty drab which makes very appropriate tombstones. Much of it is of a grayish white, and all of it is believed to be of as good quality as any of the marble brought from great distances, and even foreign countries. But the principal utility of the marble, at least the purposes to which the product will be chiefly put at first, is for marble dust for carbonating works. Ten thousand barrels of this product are used in Kansas City every year, and in St. Louis it is sold by the train load. The incorporators are: C. D. Whiting, 4,000 shares of common stock and 2,000 shares of preferred stock; F. A. Green, 2,000 shares; Lloyd Allen, 300 shares; A. R. Bell, 700 shares; W. P. Borland, 250 shares; J. J. Green, 250 shares.”

• Sugar Creek, Missouri - the Sugar Creek Cement Plant (AKA Missouri Portland Cement Company, Kansas City Plant) (present-day company) Excerpt from Missouri Mining Heritage Guide, by John R. Park, Stonerose Publishing Co., Miami, Florida, March 2005. (The following excerpted quotations are used with the permission of John R. Park, author.)

  “The roads on which I attempted to approach the Sugar Creek Cement Plant were gated and posted far from the plant. As far as I can tell, the only view of the plant available from public property is from SR 210 on the north side of the Missouri River.

  “The Sugar Creek Cement Plant was originally built by the Kansas City Portland Cement Company in 1907. At some point, it was acquired by the Missouri Portland Cement Company, and subsequently, by the Lafarge Corporation in 1991. The older plant had an annual capacity of about 475,000 tons.

  “In 2002, a new plant was opened, and the older facility ceased operations, except for finish milling, cement storage, and shipping facilities. The new facility includes the 700’ deep underground Sugar Creek Mine in the Mississippian-age St. Louis Limestone. The mine is served by two shafts, a 12’ production shaft and a 15’ service shaft. The mine schedule is room-and-pillar, with underground crushers. The new plant has an annual capacity of a million tons.

  “Historically, the mill (at least the older mill) is located at the site of the Upper Independence (Wayne City) Landing. Although not as successful as the Lower Landing, this steamboat landing and ferry operation served the... Santa Fe Trail trade. No trace of the landing remains.”

• Sweeney, Missouri - the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Company’s Limestone Quarry (Limestone) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “This quarry, which is located about three miles east of Clifton City, in secs. 4 and 9, T. 46, R. 19 W., is owned by Mrs. Lou Streit and Mr. Ed. Sweeney and operated by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad. Mr. J. C. Strine of Clifton City is superintendent and manager.

  “This quarry was opened in 1889 and has been operated each summer since, with the exception of 1893, 1896, 1899 and 1900. It has a face 700 feet long and from 70 to 100 feet high and has been worked into the hill about 200 feet. The stone is limestone belonging to the Burlington, Chouteau and Devonian formations. The following is a description of the beds from top to bottom.

  27 ft. - Coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous Burlington limestone; color varies from a blue to a buff. Consists of two ledges of twelve and fifteen feet.

  1 ft. - Bluish green shale.

  38 ft. - Chouteau limestone. Blue, fine grained and compact. Consists of two beds, respectively eighteen and twenty feet in thickness. The lower bed of twenty feet contains very few chert nodules and has a uniform blue color. The upper eighteen feet contains more chert and breaks with a conchoidal fracture.

  41 ft. - The upper twenty feet is a dark bluish gray limestone, which can be separated into beds from four to six feet in thickness. Contains disseminated chert nodules. The lower three feet is a solid bed of good stone which might be used for constructional purposes. Underneath this occurs four feet of dark gray, fine grained limestone, in beds from two to five inches in thickness. Contains many chert nodules. Beneath this, is a four foot bed of dark gray, fine grained limestone, containing many cavities filled with a green, shaly material. The lowest ledge is a dark gray, fine grained, crystalline, compact limestone thirteen feet in thickness. It contains small veins of calcite. Two small suture joints occur a little below the middle of the ledge.

  “No attention is paid to the joints in quarrying. The major set strikes No. 40° E., while two minor sets strike N. 10° E. and N. 40° W.

  “The stone from the Burlington and Chouteau beds is suitable for buildings, bridge abutments, retaining walls and other constructional purposes. At present all of the stone is being crushed for ballast and concrete.

  “The quarry face is broken in the middle by a thirty-foot seam of blue shale and sandstone, which are of no value and only entail expense for their removal. Iron pyrites is abundant in some parts of the quarry.

  “The equipment consists of modern machinery, including steam drills, boilers, engines and crushing plant. The crushing plant consists of No. 4 and No. 5 Gates crushers with elevators and screens, and has a capacity of about 400 cubic yards per day. The expense of operating these crushers is much greater than it would be to run a single crusher, having a capacity of the two small ones.

  “About seventy men are employed at this plant. About 95,000 cubic yards of broken stone was produced in 1901. It is separated into two sizes known as screenings and macadam. The entire output is used for railroad work.”

• Syenite Area, St. Francois County, Missouri - “ Motions” in the Syenite Area (from“Notes on The Building Stones, Clays and Sands of Iron, St. Francois and Madison Counties,” by G. E. Ladd, Assistant Geologist, in Bulletin 1, Geological Survey of Missouri, Jefferson City, April 1890.)

  “Motions at Syenite. The country for several miles north, west and south of the town of Syenite, in section 5, township 34 north, range 6 east, has extensive outcrops of red granite in which the quarries, already discussed, of Milne and Gordon, Doe Run and Syenite are situated. In addition to what these quarries have produced, stone has been gotten out at a number of other localities from ‘motions,’ or other small openings, for the production of paving stone. Such are the Walsh, Ruecking & Co., O’Bannon, Abbot, Turpin, Bougeois, Cartee, Chamberlain, Crawford and the Kansas City company’s motions or quarries. These granites do not offer the facilities for motion work that the syenites do, and it is usually necessary to open them by powder blasts. In general, they are not intersected by many joint planes, have no great amount of stripping, and are situated so as to favor economic quarrying of dimension stone, on a large scale. They are destined to be worked extensively in the future. The characteristics of the stone, as described above in the notes on the Milne and Gordon and the Syenite quarries, are fairly representative of the stone of this whole area, although it varies locally in depth of color and in texture; the latter being occasionally very coarse. The output of paving blocks from these localities has been, approximately: from the Walsh, 200,000; Ruecking & Co., 100,000; O’Bannon, between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000; Cartee, 10,000; Crawford, 4,000, and others 5,000.”

• Syenite Area, St. Francois County, Missouri - the Allen and Company Syenite Quarry (AKA the Garrett Quarry) (Syenite) (from “Notes on The Building Stones, Clays and Sands of Iron, St. Francois and Madison Counties,” by G. E. Ladd, Assistant Geologist, in Bulletin 1, Geological Survey of Missouri, Jefferson City, April 1890.)

  “Allen and Company. In township 36 north, range 4 east, section 20, southwest quarter, is a quarry in the syenite, known as the Garrett quarry, which was opened in 1887, by a blast of many tons of powder. It is not now worked. The total output to date is little less than 100,000 paving blocks. The rock is covered with very little stripping, but joint planes and seams are so abundant that it is impossible to quarry it for dimension stone. It is fine grained, pink in color, and easily dressed.”

• Syenite (west of), Missouri - the Arnold Granite Quarry (Granite) (from A Report on Mine La Motte Sheet, including Portions of Madison, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties, by Charles Rollin Keyes, State Geologist, Missouri Geological Survey, Reports on Areal Geology (Sheets 1-4) Volume IX, 1896)

  “Arnold Quarry. - The Arnold quarry, to the south of the county road on the Baker land in the southwest quarter of section 5, has been opened three years. In this time 17,000 blocks have been obtained. The opening is in a red granite, tolerably coarse textured.”

• Syenite Area, Missouri - the Asplos Granite Quarry (Granite) (from A Report on Mine La Motte Sheet, including Portions of Madison, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties, by Charles Rollin Keyes, State Geologist, Missouri Geological Survey, Reports on Areal Geology (Sheets 1-4) Volume IX, 1896)

  “Asplos Quarry. - Northeast of the Flemming opening is a small quarry in the ‘blue’ granite, such as is found at the other quarries in the vicinity. It dresses easily and joints are sufficiently numerous to aid very materially in the quarry operations. About 10,000 blocks have been hammered out.

• Syenite Area Missouri - the Flemming Granite Quarry (Granite) (from A Report on Mine La Motte Sheet, including Portions of Madison, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties, by Charles Rollin Keyes, State Geologist, Missouri Geological Survey, Reports on Areal Geology (Sheets 1-4) Volume IX, 1896)

  “Flemming Quarry. - This opening lies about 100 yards west of the one just described (the Meyers Quarry). It was first opened three years ago (circa 1893). The rock is the ordinary ‘blue’ granite, and is very easily worked on the rift. Something over 55,000 blocks have been made.”

• Syenite Area, St. Francois County, Missouri - the Garrett Quarry

  See: Syenite Area, St. Francois County, Missouri - the Allen and Company Syenite Quarry (AKA the Garrett Quarry) above.

• Syenite Area, Missouri - the Meyers Granite Quarry (Granite) (from A Report on Mine La Motte Sheet, including Portions of Madison, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties, by Charles Rollin Keyes, State Geologist, Missouri Geological Survey, Reports on Areal Geology (Sheets 1-4) Volume IX, 1896)

  “Meyers Quarry is situated just north of the county road, one-half mile west of Knob Lick. It was opened two years ago (circa 1894) and block-making has been prosecuted most of the time since. Probably 50,000 six-inch and eight-inch blocks have been produced. The rock work is called ‘blue syenite’. It is a gray granite with rather medium texture. The jointing planes are rather numerous, the general direction being southwest-northeast. The stone is admirable for paving purposes and could be used for certain dimension work. There are, however, small spots of dark gray material scattered through the mass. These of course detract from the value of the rock for building purposes but does not lessen its value for paving blocks. The large masses are raised to the surface by a hand derrick.”

• Syenite (near), St. Francois County, Missouri - the Milne and Gordon Granite Quarry (Granite) (from “Notes on The Building Stones, Clays and Sands of Iron, St. Francois and Madison Counties,” by G. E. Ladd, Assistant Geologist, in Bulletin 1, Geological Survey of Missouri, Jefferson City, April 1890.)

  “Milne and Gordon. In township 34 north, range 6 east, section 5, near the center, is a granite quarry which was first open in 1870, and reopened in 1876 by the present company. It is situated on the west slope of a low granite ridge and is drainable by siphons. The stripping on the rock varies in thickness from 1 foot to about 10 feet. The distribution of joint planes permits the quarrying of enormous blocks, one solid block having been broken out measuring fifty feet in length and twenty feet in width and depth. The stone is of a soft gray or pink color. Feldspar is the chief coloring mineral, and a milky quartz and black biotite serve to modify its effects. Both the gray and pink varieties take a brilliant polish. The stone is hard but dresses quite easily. It splits to best advantage along the ‘lift.’* The plant of this company consists of a tramway about a mile and a half long, two stationary engines, of 30 and 10 horse powers respectively, 6 derricks, a polishing room with a circular and a vertical polisher, sheds, tools, etc. The output of this quarry to date amounts to about 60,000 cubic feet of dimension stone and about a half a million paving blocks. Among the most important structures for which it has furnished granite, are the J. R. Lionberger and the H. L. Forks buildings of St. Louis; U. S. custom house and post-office, Keokuk, Iowa; United States Rock Island arsenal, Rock Island, Ill.; Jackson County court house, Kansas City, Mo. The largest dressed stone produced is a block ten feet square and one foot thick.”

  (* Page 36 footnote: The “lift,” at the quarries described in this paper, is the name given to the plane along which the rock splits, and which is parallel to the bedding plane of the quarry. The bedding plane is the one which is nearest to horizontal in position. The plane nearest perpendicular to the “lift” along which the rock splits is called the “rift.” The plane approximately at right angles to the “lift” and to the “rift” is called the “hardway.”)

  • Syenite, Missouri - the Milne and Gordon Granite Quarry (Granite) (from A Report on Mine La Motte Sheet, including Portions of Madison, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties, by Charles Rollin Keyes, State Geologist, Missouri Geological Survey, Reports on Areal Geology (Sheets 1-4) Volume IX, 1896)

    “Milne & Gordon Quarry. - The quarry and dressing works are at Syenite, just north of the county road, in the center of section 5 (Tp. 34 N., R. VI E.). It is one of the oldest granite openings in the district. The worked out area is about thirty feet deep, but at the present time the work is being done at a twenty-foot bench. A good face of rather coarse-grained red granite has been developed. At the southeast corner of the opening the stone is grayer and is here traversed by red porphyritic streaks. A few feet southeastward, beyond the quarry proper a coarsely crystalline gray granite lies above the red. It is of firm texture and suitable for dimension stone. This area is included in the regular quarry. The joints are sufficiently numerous to greatly facilitate the work. The general direction is about south 10 degrees west. The texture is fairly coarse but the color is not constant over large areas. There is a tram-way from the quarry to the railroad just above Knob Lick. The plant itself has in addition, three steam and two hand derricks at the quarry and one hand derrick at the railroad; also vertical and circular polishers, sheds, and other necessary equipment. The out put from the quarry has been mostly dimension stone for large structures in various cities, chiefly St. Louis, and for monuments. The stone appears to good advantage in the roughly dressed state and partakes of a very bright polish. Blocks of almost any desirable dimensions can be secured. One huge monolith was broken out that was 50 feet long, and 20 feet in width and depth.”

    Plate XIII. Jointing of Granite, Milne and Gordon Quarry at Syenite. (after pp. 92)

  • Syenite (near), Missouri - the Milne & Gordon Granite Quarry (Granite) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

    “Milne and Gordon own and operate a quarry located one mile west of Knob Lick, in the N.W. ¼ of the S.E. ¼ of sec. 5, T. 34, R. 6 E. This quarry, which was opened in 1874, is near Syenite, being the first extensive quarry at that place.

    “Two hundred and ten feet of the face is along a major joint, which strikes N. 70° W. The remainder of the face extends 240 feet north and south. The height of the face is approximately sixty feet.

    “The granite is the typical red, Syenite variety. The principal constituents are quartz, feldspar, biotite and a small amount of hornblende. The quartz is not nearly so abundant a constituent as in the Graniteville granite is generally translucent or slightly smoky. Feldspar, of the orthoclase variety, is the most abundant constitute and varies in color from white to red. The black biotite is an essential constituent and is more abundant than the Graniteville granite. It is medium grained, being somewhat finer than the Graniteville granite. The individuals are intricately interlocked giving it both strength and durability.

    “The color varies from pinkish gray to a somewhat deep red. The color is considerably lighter than that of the Graniteville granite and the color varies slightly in different parts of the quarry. Near the bottom of the quarry, at the east end, there is a streak having an unusually deep red color. Occasional segregations of biotite, or hornblende, known as knots, occur in the stone. They vary from a fraction of an inch to several inches in cross section. These knots are less abundant than in other quarries of the Knob Lick district.

    “The major joints strike N. 62° to N. 75° W. The most prominent are from twenty to thirty feet apart, with minor ones between. The joints of another set, which strikes at right angles to this, are far apart. There are two prominent bedding planes, which dip from 20° to 30° northeast into the hill. They assist very greatly in quarrying the stone. The beds are thinner to the south near the natural outcrop. The upper bed has been almost entirely removed, the stone now being taken from the second bed. Plate XI. shows a very large block of granite, which has been removed a few feet from the quarry face and is now being broken into large dimension blocks. This also illustrates how a combination of vertical and horizontal joints may facilitate quarrying. The lowest portion of the north end of the quarry shows no bedding planes beneath those already mentioned.

    Plate XI. Red Granite. Quarry of Milne and Gordon, Syenite, Mo.

    “Occasional dark colored, tight seams in the granite occasion considerable waste. Some stone, which would otherwise make excellent monumental stock, in injured by small dries. These seams are parallel to one another, an inch or two apart, and either vertical or slightly inclined. The blocks which contain these seams are, for the most part, unfit for anything except paving blocks or crushed stone.

    “The east half of the quarry is covered with about ten feet of stripping, while the west part is a bald outcrop. The stone which is overlain with stripping is inferior and therefore not being quarried. Along the joints the feldspar has decomposed, leaving a residuum of yellowish white kaolin. This decomposition has not extended very far into the stone.

    “This granite takes an excellent polish, but the contrast in color between the hammered and polished surfaces is not very strong. Two-inch cubes of this granite gave a crushing strength of 22,882 pounds per square inch.

    “The quarry is connected with the St. Louis, Iron Mountain Southern railroad by a gravity tram. The loaded cars are hauled up the hill east of the quarry by cable, beyond which the track is down grade the entire distance to Knob Lick. The quarry and polishing sheds are equipped with steam power which operates three large derricks, hoists, drills and polishers. The principal products of the quarry are monumental and dimensional stock. the stone which is unfit for these purpose is worked into paving blocks. The spalls from the quarry are shipped to St. Louis. Dimensional blocks of excellent quality are obtained at this quarry.”

• Syenite, Missouri - the Milne & Gordon Leased Granite Quarry (Granite) (from A Report on Mine La Motte Sheet, including Portions of Madison, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties, by Charles Rollin Keyes, State Geologist, Missouri Geological Survey, Reports on Areal Geology (Sheets 1-4) Volume IX, 1896)

  “Milne & Gordon Leased Quarry. - This is also on the Baker land. It was opened up for block-making purposes eight years ago (circa 1878) and quite an extensive excavation has been made. The granite is light red in color, and medium-grained. Besides the masses which are broken into pavers a considerable amount has been used in the construction of bridges along the railroad.”

• Syenite, St. Francois County, Missouri - the Milne and Gordon Granite Quarry (Granite), (location & map) (from Brainy Geography)
• Syenite, St.FrancisCounty, Missouri - the Milne and Gordon Quarry in the Washita Mountains (quarry location indicated on TopoZone map)
• Syenite (west of), Missouri - the Ratcliffe Granite Quarry (Granite) (from A Report on Mine La Motte Sheet, including Portions of Madison, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties, by Charles Rollin Keyes, State Geologist, Missouri Geological Survey, Reports on Areal Geology (Sheets 1-4) Volume IX, 1896)

  “Ratcliffe Quarry. - This is a small quarry west of Syenite. The grayish red granite used is quite coarse-grained, but there are not enough joint planes present to enable the work to be carried on without some difficulty. Probably 12,000 blocks for paving have been made at this place.”

• Syenite (near), St. Francois County, Missouri - the Syenite Granite Company’s Quarries (Granite) (from “Notes on The Building Stones, Clays and Sands of Iron, St. Francois and Madison Counties,” by G. E. Ladd, Assistant Geologist, in Bulletin 1, Geological Survey of Missouri, Jefferson City, April 1890.)

  “Syenite. - In township 34 north, range 6 east, section 5, in the northeast quarter, are two granite quarries which are controlled by the Syenite Granite company. They were opened in 1878. Work at these quarries is now suspended because the company finds it most convenient, at present, to supply the stone for all its contracts from the Graniteville quarries. Dimension stone can be obtained here in large blocks, and the rock is quite easily dressed, and takes a high polish. The color of the stone, derived from the contained feldspar, is a pale pink, mottled with grains of milky quartz and black specs of biotite. The quarries are connected with the Belmont Branch railway by a switch, a little less than two miles long. Most of the company’s working plant is, at present, at the Graniteville quarries.”

• Syenite Area, Missouri - the Syenite Company Granite Quarries (Granite) (from A Report on Mine La Motte Sheet, including Portions of Madison, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties, by Charles Rollin Keyes, State Geologist, Missouri Geological Survey, Reports on Areal Geology (Sheets 1-4) Volume IX, 1896)

  “Syenite Quarries. - The Syenite Company was among the earlier operators in the region. Work was begun in 1880, large sheds erected and machinery put in for handling the blocks. Later the work was transferred to Graniteville in Iron county. Two principal quarries were developed to some extent before the change was made. One lies above the Little St. Francois river north of Syenite. This was the principal seat of work and was about fifty feet deep. It is estimated that 175,000 cubic feet of granite were quarried. The stone is of a grayish red color and of medium grain. The general trend of the master joints is in a direction a little west of south; of the secondary planes nearly at right angles to these. The other main quarry lies about 150 yards northwest of the Milne & Gordon quarry. It has a twenty-foot perpendicular face. Joint planes are not so numerous and large blocks are obtained. The texture is a little coarse but the stone works very easily. The company has another quarry in granite north of the large one. Only blocks were made here. A switch leaves the railroad north of Knob Lick and extends to the old work sheds. Although now abandoned there is much probability that work will be resumed here instead of continuing at Graniteville.”

• Syenite (west of), Missouri - the Ward & O’Bannon Granite Quarry (Granite) (from A Report on Mine La Motte Sheet, including Portions of Madison, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties, by Charles Rollin Keyes, State Geologist, Missouri Geological Survey, Reports on Areal Geology (Sheets 1-4) Volume IX, 1896)

  “Ward & O’Bannon Quarry. - This is a new locality just east of the Ratcliffe. Two to three thousand blocks have been made. The stone has but few joints, but works on the lift with ease. No stripping is required as yet.”

• Trenton, Missouri - the Trenton Area Limestone Quarries (Limestone) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “Two quarries are being worked in the upper strata of the Lower Coal Measures near Trenton, Grundy county. The output is entirely rough rubble stone, used locally for foundation work. The quarries are operated by David Payne and M. P. Cole.”

• Trenton, (southwest of), Missouri - the Cole Limestone Quarry (Limestone) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “This quarry is located in the E. ½ of S.E. ¼, sec. 24, T. 61, R. 25 W., about two and one-half miles southwest of Trenton. It is owned by M. P. Cole and G. P. Bosley, and is operated by M. P. Cole. The quarry is situated near the top of a hill, along which it extends for about 1,500 feet. It has not been worked very far into the hill, the stone having been quarried where it was most accessible.

  “The uppermost four feet consists of four to six inch layers of finely crystalline limestone, containing many small cavities. The bedding planes separating these layers are sometimes tight, in which case the stone can be used for heavy foundation work. A fourteen-inch bed of finely crystalline, gray limestone underlies this heavy ledge. Underneath this is a thirty-five-inch ledge of fine grained, fossiliferous stone, having a light gray to bluish color. This bed can be split from the top to the bottom into 6 in., 4 in., 2 in., 4 in., 6 in., 5 in., and 8 in. beds. These are broken into light foundation, well rock and flagging.

  “The major joints, which strike N, 45° E. and N. 45° W., are sufficiently far apart to permit the quarrying of stone four feet in breadth by eight to twelve feet long.

  “This quarry was opened in 1883 and is worked to some extent each year. In the spring of 1902 the owners were opening a new quarry about one-fourth of a mile north of Mr. Cole’s house.”

• Trenton, (southwest of), Missouri - the Payne Limestone Quarry (Limestone) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “The David Payne quarry is located two and one-half miles west of Trenton. It is situated on a hill side, along which it extends for about 150 feet. The quarry face is six feet deep and consists of the following beds from top to bottom:

  2-4 ft. - Dirt stripping.

  4 in. - Light gray limestone. Beds are much broken. Used for well rock.

  4 in. - Light gray limestone. Beds are much broken. Used for well rock.

  4 in. - Light gray limestone, with occasional small vein-like streaks of iron oxide.

  6 in. - Light gray limestone, with occasional small vein-like streaks of iron oxide.

  10 in. - Medium grained, light gray, fossiliferous limestone.

  8 in. - Similar bed above.

  16 in. - Light gray, finely crystalline limestone. Best bed in the quarry.

  6 in. - Light colored, crystalline limestone.

  “The joints strike east and west and north and south. Many of them contain iron oxide, which imparts a dark red color to the stone. These are known locally as ‘red seams.’ Thin laminae of shale occur along the wavy bedding planes.

  “The stone is quarried by prying it up with crowbars and breaking it into irregular pieces with sledges.”

• Troy, Missouri - the Troy Area Limestone Quarries (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “Troy.

  “Two quarries are located in the vicinity of this city, which are owned respectively by Mr. E. G. Hammond and Mr. H. Behreus. These quarries are located about one-fourth of a mile south of the depot, in sec. 36, T. 49, R. 1 W., and are just west of the St. Louis and Hannibal railroad. The stone is very similar in both quarries and occurs in well stratified beds of a very convenient thickness for working by hand.”

• Troy, Missouri - the Behreus Limestone Quarry (Limestone) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “This quarry, which was opened about ten years ago, has a north face of about 100 feet. The following is a description of the stone from top to bottom.

  4 ft. - Reddish clay stripping, containing a layer of chert.

  3 ft. - Buff colored limestone, containing small nodules of chert. Splits into thin layers and is used for well rock.

  2 ft. - Bluish, crystalline fossiliferous limestone, containing chert nodules. Splits into thin layers, which are used chiefly for well rock.

  2 ft. 9 in. - Blue, fossiliferous limestone. Splits into three beds eight inches, six inches and one foot six inches in thickness. Fine suture joints occur in this bed.

  1 ft. 7 in. - Dark blue limestone. A four inch layer of chert occurs at the top.

  10 in. - Dark blue, crystalline limestone. A fine suture joint occurs near the bottom of the bed. The upper two inches of this bed has a buff color.

  “The joints strike N. 65° W. and E. and W. They are not very prominent and are but little used in quarrying. The beds in the upper part are used for well and light foundation work. The thicker beds, that are free from chert, are used for broken ashler and range work.”

• Troy, Missouri - the Hammond Limestone Quarry (Limestone) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “This quarry, which is located just west of the Behreus quarry, was opened in 1876 and has furnished a greater part of the stone used in this locality. It has a face about 150 feet long and 12 feet high. The stone is similar to that in the previously described quarry, although the beds are somewhat thicker. The following is a description of the beds from top to bottom:

  2 ft. - Soil stripping.

  4 ft. - Buff colored, crystalline limestone, containing numerous chert nodules.

  1 ft. 2 in. - Blue, crystalline, fossiliferous limestone.

  6 in. - Blue shale.

  3 ft. - Light blue, fossiliferous limestone, containing white, siliceous spots. Splits into six and eight inch beds.

  2 ft. 2 in. - Blue, medium grained, crystalline, fossiliferous limestone containing chert nodules.

  “The principal joints strike N. 40° E. and N. 50° W.

  “The stone is suitable for well rock, light foundations and broken ashler. Where used in ashler masonry, it looks well. It is also well adapted for caps, sills and other trimmings to brick buildings. The rock face finish is very attractive and preferable to hammer dressed work.”

• Tyson, Jefferson County, Missouri - the Beaumont-Tyson Quarry District (Chert Quarries)

  The Beaumont-Tyson Quarry District is on the National Register of Historic Places. (added 1974 - District: #74001079)

  • The following excerpts are from the History of Tyson Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis, web site:

    History of Tyson (The link from which the following information was obtained is no longer available.)
    <http://www.biology.wustl.edu/tyson/history.html>

    The Beaumont-Tyson Quarry District is a 44-square mile area that is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. According to the web site about 6,000 to 10,000 chert quarries are located along the ridge tops in the district. There are Native American quarries also noted.

    A limestone quarry was operated by lease in the Mincke Hollow area was active from 1877 to 1927. Men who worked at the quarries and their families lived in the small town established by the Hunkins-Willis Company. The main connection with the outside world for the town was Tyson Station. The only evidence today of the existence of the community of Mincke Hollow are the old foundations of houses and the spring box at the Mincke Spring. “...The most southerly of the building foundations, on the west side of the road, is the former school house. Larger foundations at the north end of the hollow remain from former kilns, perhaps a company store and other larger structures. The Kimmswick limestone which was quarried, is calcareous shell fragments and fossils, thus it is well-suited for making lime. The quarry operation terminated in 1927 when the 50 year lease was not renewed by the property owner, Mr. Mincke.”

• Union (north of), Missouri - the Kasmann Sandstone Quarry (Sandstone) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “This quarry is located one mile north of Union in sec. 21, T. 43, R. 1 W. It is owned by C. Deptner and operated by Henry Kasmann. It consists of a number of different openings in the valley and along the hillside, from all of which a very white sandstone is obtained.

  “The opening which is now being operated has a face sixty feet long and ten feet high. The stripping consists of three feet of soil and flint. The stone consists of two beds of fine grained white limestone, which splits readily with plug and feathers. It is used for flagging, curbing, foundations, caps, sills, steps, etc.

  “This stone has a very uniform texture and is excellent for most building purposes Buildings in which it is used fifteen years ago show little sign of wear.”

• Union (east of), Missouri - the St. Louis, Kansas City & Colorado Railroad Company’s Limestone Quarry (Dolomite Limestone) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “This quarry is located about one mile east of Union and is connected by spur with the main track. It has a face 110 feet long and six feet six inches in height. The stripping consists of from one to three feet of clay and stone.

  “The stone is typical Jefferson City dolomite. The upper three feet is a solid bed which can be split into pieces of any desired thickness. The lower part of the quarry is separated by bedding planes into layers from four inches to one foot in thickness.

  “Occasional joints strike N. 60° E. and N. 60° W. They are not frequent enough to materially affect quarrying operations. Some of the stone contains short dries on account of which it breaks into irregular pieces.

  “The entire output of this quarry is being used for construction of culverts.”

• Valley Park (west of), St. Louis County, Missouri - Shale Exposure (Shale) (from Limestones and Dolomites in the St. Louis Area, Report of Investigations No. 5, by Norman S. Hinchey, R. B. Fisher, and W. A. Calhoun, State of Missouri Department of Business and Administration, Division of Geological Survey and Water Resources, Rolla, Missouri, 1947. Used with permission.) (For an explanation of the study of which this section is a part, see: St. Louis Area of Missouri - Limestones and Dolomites in the St. Louis Area (St. Louis County, Jefferson County, and Lincoln County)

  Locality F (Field Descriptions and Analytical Information)

  “Remarks. This exposure is a bluff along the north wall of the Meramec River. The bluff face has, in recent years, been shot down and excavated by the Missouri Pacific Lines in widening its right-of-way along this line.

  “Location: In the SW ¼ SW ¼ SE ¼ sec. 15, T. 44 N., R. 4 E., St. Louis County, Missouri. Samples were taken from the lower part of the bluff at milepost 22-20, 1,200 feet west of Castlewood station, which is approximately 3 ½ miles west of Valley Park, Missouri.

  “Elevation. Track level of the Missouri Pacific Lines at this point is approximately 438 feet above sea level. The base of the section sampled is taken as 443 feet above sea level, 5 feet above track level. Elevations of samples taken are indicated in the description of the geologic section.

  “Stratigraphic Position. The samples were from the Maquoketa (Ordovician) formation. The full section of the Maquoketa is exposed here, and it was sampled in its entirety. In the section sampled, the Maquoketa lies on the Kimmswick limestone formation (Ordovician) and is overlain by the Bushberg sandstone formation (Mississippian).

  “Samples. Twenty-four samples were taken at intervals of approximately 1 foot. Two samples of the 2-inch basal layer of the Maquoketa were taken. The samples were F-1 to F-23, inclusive.

  “Geologic Section. The sequence, from top to bottom, is as follows:

  5. Sandstone, impure, tan and brown, conglomeratic at base with many phosphatic nodules and some iron sulphide. Contact with shale below is irregular and wavy. Bushberg formation. Base is at an approximate elevation of 467 feet. - -------

  4. Shale, dark brownish-gray and black, weathered to lighter bluish-gray, laminated and fissile, firm; platy laminae in part; contains graptolites in abundance at places in upper 1 foot and many small, inarticulate brachiopods. Pyritic nodules and phosphatic pebbles in the lower 4 to 8 inches. A distinct unit in the shale sections. These beds thin out to the east in the bluff. Elevation, 463 to 467. Sample F-23 was taken at an elevation of 466 feet; Sample F-22 was taken at an elevation of 463. - 4 feet.

  3. Shale, lighter gray than the overlying beds; upper 5 feet is lighter in color and is softer shale; breaks with a starchlike fracture on fresh surface; darker on fresh surface; weathered to lighter color; selenite crystals in fractures. Elevation, 456 to 463 feet. Samples were taken as follows: F-21 was taken at an elevation of 463 feet; F-20 at 462; F-19 at 461; F-18 at 460; F-17 at 459; F-16 at 458; F-15 at 457; and F-14 at 456 feet. - 7 feet.

  2. Shale, dark gray, weathered to a bluish-gray; fresh sample breaks with a starchlike fracture not seen in weathered specimens. At the base lies a 2-inch hard brown slightly sandy (?) layer on the surface of the underlying Kimmswick limestone formation. Elevation, 443 to 456 feet. Samples were taken as follows: F-13 at an elevation of 455 feet; F-12 at 454; F-11 at 453; F-10 at 452; F-9 at 451; F-8 at 450; F-7 at 449; F-6 at 448; F-5 447; F-4 at 446; F-3 at 445; and F-2 and F-1 at 443 feet. - 13 feet.

  1. Limestone, gray, crystalline, cherty; ferruginous upper surface. Top of the Kimmswick formation. Not sampled. - -------

  Base of section sampled.

  Analytical Information on Shale Samples of Maquoketa Formation At Locality F. The chemical analyses of the 24 samples taken in the Maquoketa formation at locality F are as follows:

  Analyses of Samples at Locality F

• Van Buren, Missouri - the River Granite Company’s Granite Quarry (Granite) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “This company, consisting of Alex. Carter and James McGee, opened a quarry in 1894 in the S.W. ¼ of the S.E. ¼ and the S.E. ¼ of the S.W. ¼ of sec. 29, T. 27, R. 1 E., on the east side of Current river. The quarry has not been operated for a number of years.

  “It is situated on the west side of a roundish granite knob which rises about 120 feet above the level of the river. The granite is flanked on all sides by limestone which rises on the east about 150 feet above the granite. The face occupies almost the entire length of the hill and has a maximum height of thirty feet.

  “The granite is fine grained and consists chiefly of feldspar, quartz and biotite. The color is several shades of red, the darkest being near the base.

  “The joints are numerous and strike in many directions. The more important strike N. 40° W., N. 65° W. and N. 50° E.

  “Crushed granite and paving blocks were the principal products of this quarry, and were shipped chiefly to Kansas City and St. Joseph, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee. The quarry is equipped with a crushing plant, consisting of a No. 4 Gates crusher, rotary screens and other accessories. It was formerly connected by spur with the Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis branch of the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad.”

• Vernon County, Missouri - the Limestone & Sandstones of Vernon County, from “Notes on The Clays and Building Stones of Certain Western Central Counties Tributary to Kansas City,” by G. E. Ladd, Assistant Geologist, in Bulletin No. 5, Geological Survey of Missouri, Jefferson City, July 1891, pp. 46-86.

  Vernon County. - Formations represented.

  “Vernon county is represented, geologically, by Quaternary deposits, Lower Coal Measures, and Lower Carboniferous Limestone. The Quaternary deposits are everywhere present and are similar to those of the adjoining counties. The Lower Coal Measures occupy nearly the entire area of the county. Members of the Keokuk group of the Lower Carboniferous Limestones, reach the surface in the south-eastern part of the county and in several isolated places.

  The Building Stones and the Stone Industry (of Vernon County, Missouri). - Coal Measure sandstones worked.

  “The building stones of Vernon county occur as sandstones and limestones. There are occasional workable beds of sandstone in the Lower Coal Measures, and there is an extensive and very thick sandstone which is worked at several localities in a small way. The Keokuk limestone will furnish a good building stone, and material for lime-making. The out crops are so far from railroads, however, that no regularly worked quarry has been opened in them, with the exception of one on the Osage river, west of Shell City, where the stone is burned to lime.”

• Vigus (west of), Missouri - the Crystal Springs Limestone Quarry (Limestone) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “This quarry, which is owned by James F. and Richard Rothwell, is located one-half mile west of Vigus, at the northern edge of St. Louis county. A side track connects the quarry with the St. Louis, Kansas City and Colorado railroad. It is situated on a bluff along the Missouri river and has a face 400 feet long. The following is a section of the quarry from top to bottom:

  4 ft. 6 in. - Fine grained, gray limestone in rather heavy beds. Contains short tight seams colored red with iron oxide.

  12 ft. - Fine grained, compact, gray limestone, in beds from two to six inches in thickness. Stone is very brittle and contains short tight seams stained with iron oxide.

  7 ft. - Finely crystalline, light gray limestone. Works easily.

  15 ft. - Finely crystalline, dark gray limestone, in beds mainly from two to six inches in thickness. The twenty inch beds occur near the top.

  10 ft. - Finely crystalline, gray limestone. Bedding planes are very uneven. The stone is not uniformly colored, being light and dark colored in spots.

  10 ft. - Fine grained, compact, grain limestone. Is brittle and breaks with an irregular fracture. Is crushed and used for rip rap.

  “The quarry can be worked fifteen feet deeper before pumping will be necessary.

  “This quarry is equipped with a No. 3 Gates crusher, revolving screen, bucket elevator and a Sullivan steam drill. The stone is carried to the crusher by a cable tramway which is operated by steam. The quarry produces crushed stone and building stone, most of which is shipped by rail to St. Louis. Stone from this quarry was used in the abutments of the Ashley road bridge over the Endland Electric Railway tracks.”

• Vigus Station (near), Missouri - the Sinclair Quarry and Construction Company’s Limestone Quarry (Limestone) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “This quarry, which is owned by George Penn, is located on the river bluffs one-fourth of a mile from Vigus Station, and is connected by side track with the St. Louis, Kansas City and Colorado railroad. The office of the company is at 413 Fullerton building, St. Louis.

  “The following is a description of the beds from top to bottom:

  10-25 ft. - Loess stripping.

  0-20 ft. - Fine grained limestone, in thin layers. At the south end of the quarry, the beds have been eroded away.

  4 ft. - Fine grained, gray limestone, containing nodules of flint.

  12 ft. - Gray limestone in beds from four to six inches in thickness. Upper bed of twelve inches is a very good quality of dark gray crystalline limestone.

  4 ft. 3 in. - Bluish gray limestone, in beds about twelve inches thick.

  “The twelve-foot ledge exhibits a system of inclined joints striking north and south and east and west and dipping respectively 25-30° W. and 30° N. These do not occur in the beds either above or below.

  “The quarry is equipped with a No. 5 Austin crusher and accessories, a steam drill, derrick and other machinery necessary in working the stone. An average of forty men are employed from March to December. The products are chiefly crushed and building stone. The stone is now being used in the new Washington University buildings.”

• Wachita Mountain, Missouri - Missouri Granite Construction Company Quarry (Topozone map indicating the location of this quarry)
• Walnut Grove (southeast of), Missouri - the Mugen Limestone Quarry (Limestone) (The following information is from The Quarrying Industry of Missouri, by E. R. Buckley, Director and State Geologist, and H. A. Buehler, Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines Vol. II, 2nd Series, 1904.)

  “This quarry, which is located between Walnut Grove and Phenix, on the west side of the Kansas City, Ft. Scott Memphis railroad, is owned by Pat Mugen. It has been opened about 300 feet east and west and 200 feet north and south. The stone has been used exclusively for the manufacture of quicklime, which is burned in a continuous kiln.

  “The following is a description of the beds from top to bottom:

  0-1 ft. - Stripping.

  6 ft. - Gray, coarsely crystalline, fossiliferous limestone. Occurs in beds from two to six inches in thickness.

  16 ft. - Bluish gray limestone, varying in texture from fine to coarse grained. The variations in texture occur between what appear to be beds, although there is no parting plane between the layers of different texture. The stone contains suture joints which vary in size from one-eighth to one and one-half inches. The largest suture joints occur near the middle of the bed and are from eighteen to twenty-four inches apart. Smaller suture joints occur between the large ones. The stone contains dark spots near the middle of the bed. Occasional flint nodules occur near the south end of the quarry.

  5 ft. 6 in. - The stone in the upper part is coarse grained, while that in the lower part is fine grained. These are separated by suture joints. The upper eighteen inches contains many flint nodules.

  “The floor of the quarry is a layer of flint which overlies a fine grained limestone which it is intended to later work. At the time this quarry was visited the Viernow and Meysenburg Cut Stone Co. of Carthage was channeling the lower ledges to ascertain its suitability for cut and sawed stone.”

• Walnut Grove, Missouri - Phenix Stone Quarry (Limestone) (Field Trip Guide to the Geology of Missouri State University’s Springfield Campus) [PDF] (The quotation below is used with permission.)

  According to this field trip guide, “One of the main quarries near Springfield was the Phenix...Quarry near Walnut Grove. The quarry operates intermittently; some of the limestone quarried there is composed of tiny spherical pellet-like particles known as oöids (meaning ‘egg shaped’). ‘Phenix Stone’ is not common on the Missouri State University campus, but many of the houses in Springfield use it as a facing stone. Polished Phenix Stone was used to decorate the second floor of the Missouri State Capitol Building in Jefferson City. ‘Phenix Stone’ is also Mississippian in age. Three different rock units were quarried at Phenix: the Burlington-Keokuk formation (for the adventurous, a block of the Burlington-Keokuk rests on the lawn at the southeast corner of Temple Hall), the Short Creek Oölite, and the Warsaw Formation.”

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