Standard Portland Cement Company/Corp. / Basalt Rock Company Ruins
Napa Junction / American Canyon, Napa County, California
These photographs are of the ruins of structures, the first of which were constructed by the Standard Portland Cement Co. (which stopped operating about 1935, according to Rebecca Yerger’s 1999 article “Standard Portland Cement Comany,” published in the Napa Valley Register). In the later years of its operation, the cement works were operated by the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Co. The Basalt Rock Co. constructed more buildings, the three silos, and the rotunda on the property in the late 1940s through the early 1950s.
These ruins are located on private property, so permission needs to be obtained before entering the property. I hope you will be able to look past the colorful “artwork” on the walls. For historical information on the Standard Portland Cement Co. and Basalt Rock Co. operations, visit the Napa Junction quarry section of our web site. (These photographs were taken in May 2011 by Peggy B. and Pat Perazzo. We'd like to hear from you if you have any information on these old companies or have knowledge of the location of the companies' records, floor plans for the buildings, or old photographs.)
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Works of the Standard Portland Cement Company at Napa Junction. (Ill. No. 79, circa 1906) |
Limestone Quarry of Standard Portland Cement Company at Napa Junction. (Ill. No. 80, circa 1906) |
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Clay pit of the Standard Portland Cement Company (circa 1916) |
Steam shovel in limestone quarry of Standard Portland Cement Company (circa 1916) |
Rotary kilns in the Standard Portland Cement Company (circa 1916) |
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Left side of panorama view at the entrance to the Standard Portland Cement ruins as they look today |
Central panorama view at the entrance to the Standard Portland Cement ruins |
Right side of panorama view at the entrance to the Standard Portland Cement ruins as they look today |
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These silos were added by the Basalt Rock Co. in the late 1940s to early 1950s after the cement plant shut down, according to Linda Luippold. |
View of ruins from the entry gate |
Basalt Rock Co. Rotunda building in the late 1940s to early 1950s, according to Linda Luippold. |
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Miller’s Pond, the largest of several quarries used by Standard Portland Cement Co. to pump water to the cement works once the quarry was no longer used, according to Linda Luippold. |
Miller’s Pond, the largest of several quarries used by Standard Portland Cement Co., according to Linda Luippold. |
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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.