Logo Picture Left SideLogo Picture Right SideLogo Text at Center
Home > Search > Site Map > California > CA - Quarry Links & Photographs > San Diego County > List of Stone Quarries

San Diego - List of Stone Quarries, Etc. (Continued) *

(* Please note this list does not include sand, gravel, or decomposed granite quarries.)

Go to
  • Lakeside (north of), San Diego County, California – Lakeside Lime and Marl Deposit (Limestone & Marl) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

    "Lakeside lime and marl deposit is on El Cajon Rancho, in the northeast corner of T. 15 S., R. 1 W., S.B., 3 miles north of Lakeside. The marl has a thickness of 2 to 4 feet, with a light overburden of soil. It has been used locally as soil corrective or fertilizer. According to a partial analysis quoted in past reports as having been made by the State Department of Agriculture, the CaCO3 content of the product sold was 83.7 percent.

    "On Otay Mesa near Otay, a marl similar to that north of Lakeside was reported. Otaylite (montmorillonite) has been worked here extensively and possibly this was mistaken for limestone years ago."

  • Lakeside (near), San Diego County, California – Andrew Lehnberg (Granite Quarry) (Diorite) (Excerpt from Report XIV of the State Mineralogist - Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist's Report – Biennial Period 1913-1914, Part V. "The Counties of San Diego, Imperial," by Frederick J. H. Merrill, Ph.D., Field Assistant (field work in December, 1914), California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 427-634.)

    "Andrew Lehnberg, of Foster, operates a quarry on El Cajon Grant, west of Foster, and about 600 yards south of the Simpson-Pirnie quarry. This is also biotite granite. He also operates a quarry of dark green rock near Lakeside, which Dr. A. S. Eakle has identified as diorite. This material is derived from boulders, no ledge having yet been opened."

    "Dr. A. S. Eakle's determination of (this rock) is as follows:….

    "Lehnberg, Lakeside. Hornblende-diorite. A thin section shows plagioclase predominating and scattered plates of hornblende. A few rods of biotite occur. The rock has a sprinkling of magnetite with an occasional grain of pyrite."

    "San Diego Granite Works, corner Eleventh and M streets, San Diego, Fred Fickas, proprietor…It now uses stone from the Simpson-Pirnie quarry west of Foster and from Lehnberg's quarry near Lakeside (circa 1914)…."

  • Lakeside (52 miles southwest of), San Diego County, California – Verruga Marble Quarries (Marble) (Excerpt from “Limestone in California,” by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

    "Verruga marble quarries are in sec. 10, T. 11 S., R. 4 E., S.B. Eight patented claims were owned by John Johnson, Escondido, in 1939. The nearest railroad point is Lakeside, about 52 miles southwest. Road improvements in late years should permit hauling of marble at much less than the former cost, which was prohibitive when the quarries were last worked from 1921-23.

    Two deposits of marble, 800 feet apart and separated by mica schist, occur in an area of metamorphic rocks near granite. The western deposit outcrops for about 1000 feet striking N. 20 W. and is about 100 feet wide. The eastern outcrop is reported to be 200 feet by 1000 feet. Two quarries were opened in the twenties on the western deposit and the marble was used in several buildings in San Diego. Some work was also done on the eastern deposit. The marble is white, coarsely crystalline and of uniform texture and color. It is quite hard and can be quarried in large blocks."

  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Stone Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")

    This quarry produced a gray stone. First year of production was 1913, last year of production was 1913.

  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – Cameron Deering (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 4 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Lakeside Silver Gray granite." First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1946.
    Figure 13. View into Cameron-Deering quarry, Lakeside. Distribution of the many fractures in the rock is such that uniform blocks are difficult to obtain. View into Cameron-Deering quarry, Lakeside.
    Figure 14. Perfect joint plane. Cameron-Deering quarry, Lakeside. Perfect joint plane. Cameron-Deering quarry, Lakeside.
  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – Deering and McDonald (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 11 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Mission Silver Gray granite."
  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – John Grant (Stone Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")

    This quarry was located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County. First year of production was 1913, last year of production was 1915.

  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – Alvini I. Lodge (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 11 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Mission Silver Gray granite." First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1946.
  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – McGilvray, Raymond Corporation (Stone Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 12 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone. First year of production was 1921, last year of production was 1935.
  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California –- Matson and Deering (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 11 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Mission Silver granite." First year of production was 1932, last year of production was 1936.
  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – McKoon Granite Quarry (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 11 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Silver Gray granite." First year of production was 1924, last year of production was 1929.
  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – Meyers Granite Quarry (W. A. Meyer) (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 14 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone. First year of production was 1923, last year of production was 1930.
  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – Mission Silver Gray Granite Company (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 11 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Mission Silver Gray granite." First year of production was 1929, last year of production was 1932.
  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – Simpson-Pirnee Granite Company (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 12 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone. First year of production was (?), last year of production was 1932.
    • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – Simpson-Pirnee Granite Company

      Also see:  “Foster (west of), San Diego County, California – Simpson-Pirnie Granite Company Quarry” above. 

  • Lakeside-Foster District, San Diego County, California – Southern California Granite Company (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 18 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Lakeside-Foster District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Silver Gray granite." First year of production was 1919, last year of production was 1936.
  • Los Peñasquitos Creek Valley, San Diego County, California – Mexican Onyx /Onyx Marble Deposit (Onyx Marble) (Excerpt from Report XIV of the State Mineralogist - Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist's Report - Biennial Period 1913-1914, Part V. "The Counties of San Diego, Imperial," by Frederick J. H. Merrill, Ph.D., Field Assistant (field work in December, 1914), California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 427-634.)

    "(Mexican onyx or onyx marble) This handsome ornamental stone is mineralogically aragonite, a form of carbonate of lime often deposited form hot springs. The only occurrence in this county has been reported from the valley of Los Peñasquitos Creek on the grant of that name.* The exact locality could not be ascertained by the writer.

    (* Page 674 footnote: Bulletin 38, page 369.)

  • Mt. Helix (near), San Diego County, California – San Diego Granite Works (Granite Quarry) (Excerpt from Report XIV of the State Mineralogist - Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist's Report - Biennial Period 1913-1914, Part V. "The Counties of San Diego, Imperial," by Frederick J. H. Merrill, Ph.D., Field Assistant (field work in December, 1914), California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 427-634.)

    "San Diego Granite Works, corner Eleventh and M streets, San Diego, Fred Fickas, proprietor. Formerly operated a quarry near Mt. Helix, one quarter mile east of Hotel Grossmont. Also at one time operated the quarry near La Mesa, now controlled by Charles G. Moore. It now uses stone from the Sampson-Pirnie quarry west of Foster and from Lehnberg's quarry near Lakeside (circa 1914).

  • Pala District, San Diego County, California – Emil Johnson and Sons (National Quarries) (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 10 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Pala District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "Pala Black granite." First year of production was 1946, last year of production was 1948.
    Fig. 10. Transported boulders, Emil Johnson and Sons quarry, Pala. Transported boulders, Emil Johnson and Sons quarry, Pala.
  • Pala District, San Diego County, California - McGee Quarry (Robert J. McGee) (Stone Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 10 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Pala District of San Diego County, produced a black stone. First year of production was 1922, last year of production was 1934.
    Figure 16. Vertical west face of McGee quarry, near Pala, as it appeared in July 1947. Note large boulders in upper part of thick, well-defined "creep" layer, which also contains smaller boulders that show some exfoliation. The underlying residual material, with its large, spheroidally weathered boulders, is well exposed to the right of the man. Its sharp upper contact is elsewhere concealed by slumped debris and quarry waste. Vertical west face of McGee quarry, near Pala, as it appeared in July 1947.
  • Pala District, San Diego County, California – Riverside Monumental Works (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 10 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Pala District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "Mission Black granite." First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1945.
  • Peninsula Range of Mountains, bounding the Colorado Desert on the West, San Diego County, California, & the Mexican territory of Baja California - Stone Resources (Marble, Limestone, Sandstone, & Granite, etc.) - Excerpt from the Tenth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1890, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: State Printing Office, 1890, pp. 899 & 906.

    (pp. 899)

    “...This great basin, near the mouth of the Colorado River of the West, forms one of the most extensive and important portions of the arid regions of the United States. The vast area known as the Colorado Desert, comprises all the country lying between the Colorado River on the east and the Peninsula Range of mountains on the west - a vast triangular-depressed plain, below the level of the sea for the larger portion of its surface, and comparatively destitute of verdure or of animal life.

    “This remarkable region has an approximate area of twelve million acres, about one half of which lies within the boundaries of San Diego County, California, the remainder in the Mexican territory of Baja California....”

    (pp. 906)

    “The Peninsula Range of mountains, bounding the Colorado Desert on the west, possesses a rich variety of the choicest granite, marble, and sandstone, unsurpassed in quality for building purposes. Some of these varieties are exceedingly beautiful, but are still practically unavailable from their comparative inaccessibility.

    “The surface of the desert is strewn with fragments of marble for a large portion of its area. These are worn and beautifully polished or sculptured by the drifting sand, until each is in itself a natural ornament. Da Costa, in his ‘Natural History of Fossils’ (1757), page 197, says that ‘yellow marble was more esteemed by the Romans than all other varieties.’ Some of the delicately tinted pink, yellow, and variegated marble specimens from this region would lead us to indorse the taste of these ancient connoisseurs.

    “Aside from the marble and limestone so abundant in this section, we find immense quarries of red and brown sandstones worthy of entering into the construction of the finest palatial homes.

    “The following are the principal species of rock found on the desert which may become useful in building construction:

    Marble and limestone, in different grades.

    Cement rock.

    Pumice. - Abundant in the great basin.

    Gypsum.

    Asbestos.

    Porphyry, lava, and other volcanic rocks.

    Sandstone; red, brown, and gray.

    Gneiss, granite, and other granitic rocks.

    Dunnite. - ‘From Cargo Muchacho Mining District, San Diego County. This consists of three distinct minerals - olivine, magnetite, and micaceous mineral, unknown.’ (See Sixth Annual Report of the State Mineralogist, Pt. I, pages 32-33.)

    Breccia. - Suitable for building purposes.

    Clay. - A variety of clays suitable for a great number of uses, exist in large deposits of as great a degree of purity as could be desired. But little attention has naturally been given to these natural resources of our county. That these deposits will prove a source of wealth in the future cannot be doubted.”

  • San Diego, San Diego County, California – the American Marble and Granite Works (Granite), Office, San Pedro and Seventh sts., Covas and Escalli, proprietors. (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.) (No further information is given.)
    • San Diego, San Diego County, California - the American Marble and Granite Works (Granite) (From Commercial ‘Black Granite’ of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.”)
      No. 1 on “Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries,” located in the Santee District of San Diego County, produces a black stone, trade name “Blue-Diamond Granite.” First year of production was 1927, last year of production was 1941
  • San Diego (southeasterly of), San Diego County, California – Hydraulic Cement Manufacture (Limestone, Cement Plant, & Kilns) (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

    "At Jamul, 18 miles southeasterly from San Diego, hydraulic cement was manufactured on a small scale a number of years ago. The reason commonly assigned for abandoning the industry at this point is that it is too far from the railway. The plant was designed, it is said,* to produce 200 barrels per day."

    (*Footnote: Ninth Annual Report of State Mineralogist, 1889, pp. 139 and 309. Twelfth ibid., 1892, p. 383.)

  • San Diego (southeasterly of), San Diego County, California – Jamul Cement & Kilns
    • Jamul Cement: Speculation in the San Diego Hinterland,” by David C. Burkenroad, in The Journal of San Diego History, Fall, 1979, Vol. 25, No. 4, San Diego Historical Society.

      (Excerpt from the article) “A Little More Than Twenty miles southeast of San Diego, within the boundaries of the Mexican land grant Rancho Jamul, a curious and substantial masonry structure stands isolated at the foot of a low hill. The structure houses two octagonal kilns, a brick smokestack rising more than thirty feet above them. Limestone and clay from a deposit on the hill behind were once burned in these kilns by the Jamul Portland Cement Manufacturing Company, an enterprise created during the boom of the 1880s….”

      (Key words for the above article: Rancho Jamul, Jamul Cement Works, masonry kilns, cement clinker, boiler-iron casings, Jamul Portland Cement Manufacturing Company, Kumeyaay, Diegueño, Captain Henry S. Burton, Maria Amparo Ruiz Burton, limestone deposits, cement plant, Hotel del Coronado, Spreckels Brothers Commercial Company, European Portland, Island of Portland England, Santa Cruz manufacture Portland cement, Jamul limestone deposit, Jamul Portland Cement Manufacturing Company, David O. Saylor, Coplay Cement Manufacturing Company, Pennsylvania, Jamul Cement Works, French flour milling buhrstones, pot kilns, Schoefer kilns, Dietzsch kilns, California Portland Cement Company Colton)

  • San Diego (southeasterly of), San Diego County, California – Jamul Portland Cement Company Cement Plant (Limestone, Cement Plant, & Kilns) (Excerpt from "Limestone in California," by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

    "Jamul Portland Cement Company was organized in San Diego County in 1889, to manufacture cement at a plant on Jamul Rancho, 18 miles east of San Diego (Irelan 90, p. 309).* The erection of a plant was started in 1890 (Storms 93, p. 383)** and it was finished on June 1891. It contained seven kilns and had a capacity of 150 barrels a day. The product was used for sidewalks in San Diego and according to Storms (93),** it was also sold elsewhere in southern California. The project was evidently short-lived. It was said to cost more to haul the cement to San Diego than the cost of bringing English portland cement to California by water.

    (* William Irelan, Jr., Ninth annual report of the State Mineralogist for the year ending December 1, 1889, California Min. Bur. Rept. 9, 352 pp., illus., 1890)

    (** W. H. Storms, "San Diego County," California Min. Bur. Rept. 11, pp. 376-387, illus., 1893)

    "The following analysis of the 'soft concretionary limestone' found on the property and used as raw material in making cement is taken from Irelan (90),* who does not mention what other ingredients were used."

    (* William Irelan, Jr., Ninth annual report of the State Mineralogist for the year ending December 1, 1889, California Min. Bur. Rept. 9, 352 pp., illus., 1890)

    Silica, 1.86 percent
    Alumina, 1.10 percent
    Carbonate of lime, 94.28 percent
    Carbonate of magnesia, 1.19 percent
    Carbonates of alkalies, 1.15 percent.

    "The composition of the cement was given as follows:

    Lime, 65.2 percent
    Magnesia, 1.20 percent
    Silica, 24.00 percent
    Alumina, 5.24 percent
    Iron Peroxide, 2.21 percent
    Alkalies, 1.00 percent
    Sulphuric acid, 0.20 percent
    Carbonic acid, 1.00 percent

  • San Diego (southwest of), San Diego County, California – the Sweetwater Dam Quarry (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

    "Sweetwater Dam Quarry, E. A. Hornbeck, National City, general manager. This granite quarry is some miles southwest of San Diego, and the product was used entirely in the construction of the reservoir dam."

    • San Diego County, California – San Diego Stone Company Quarry (Excerpt from Report XIV of the State Mineralogist - Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist's Report - Biennial Period 1913-1914, Part V. "The Counties of San Diego, Imperial," by Frederick J. H. Merrill, Ph.D., Field Assistant (field work in December, 1914), California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 427-634.)

      "San Diego Stone Company, 643 Spreckels Building. President and manager, E. A. Hornbeck; secretary, C. Kalbough. This company produces crushed stone for concrete. The quarry opened in 1887 for Sweetwater Dam, is west of the dam on the south side of the valley. The property consists of 15 acres held in fee, a portion of the Rancho La Nacion. Gates and Simons Dise crushers are operated (circa 1914) by electric power. Daily capacity of plant 400 tons. The annual production of crushed stone is about 49,000 tons. Of riprap and jetty stone 21,000 tons."

      Sweetwater Quarry, San Diego Stone Co. Sweetwater Dam and Mt. St. Miguel. Sweetwater Quarry, San Diego Stone Co. Sweetwater Dam and Mt. St. Miguel.
  • San Diego County, California – Elliott Dolomite Property (Dolomite) (Excerpt from "Limestone in California," by Clarence A. Logan, California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 43, No. 3, July 1947, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, California, pp. 175-357. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

    "Elliott dolomite property comprises two 160-acre association placer claims in the S ½ sec. 26 and adjacent parts of secs. 27, 34 and 35, T. 15 S., R. 8 E., S. B. The nearest loading station on San Diego & Arizona Railroad is 8 miles south. Mrs. Ellen Elliott Chilwell, Live Oak Springs via Pine Valley Post Office, California, Fred Elliott, Boulevard Post Office, California and others, are owners.

    "The deposit traverses a mountain 1500 feet high, a quarter of a mile wide and about a mile long, in the desert near the Imperial County line.

    "The following analysis was made by Smith Emery & Company, Los Angeles (No. 188685):"

    Silica SiO2, 0.43 percent
    Iron oxide Fe2O3, 0.10 percent
    Aluminum oxide Al2O3, 0.25 percent
    Calcium oxide CaO, 31.37 percent
    Magnesium oxide MgO, 20.89 percent
    Carbon dioxide CO2, 46.70 percent
    Sulfuric anhydride SO3, none
    Phosphoric anhydride P2O5, trace
    Acid insoluble matter, 0.83 percent
    Purity as calcium-magnesium carbonate, 98.8 percent

  • San Diego County, California – Marble Deposit east of San Diego County Line (Marble) (Excerpt from Report XIV of the State Mineralogist - Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist's Report - Biennial Period 1913-1914, Part V. "The Counties of San Diego, Imperial," by Frederick J. H. Merrill, Ph.D., Field Assistant (field work in December, 1914), California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 427-634.)

    "Very extensive deposits of marble, of several shades of color, which will soon be accessible (circa 1914) by the San Diego and Arizona Railroad, are in Coyote Mountain, T. 15 S., R. 10 E., a few miles east of the San Diego County line. These will be described under Imperial County."

  • San Diego County, California – Mission Gorge Pit (Stone) (active ca 1996) (From Mines and Mineral Producers Active in California (1994-1995), Special Publication 103 (Revised 1996), California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology, in cooperation with California Department of Conservation, Office of Mine Reclamation. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

    Mine name: Mission Gorge Pit; Operator: Superior Ready Mix Concrete; Address & County: 7500 Mission Gorge Rd., San Diego, CA 92120, San Diego County; Phone: (619) 265-0296; Latitude: 32.81, Longitude: -117.09, and Mine location number: Map No. 627; Mineral commodity: Stone.

  • San Diego County, California - National Quarries Granite Quarry (Granite) (From United States Geological Survey, Mineral Industries Surveys - Directory of Principal Dimension Stone Producers in the United States in 1995, prepared in January 1997.)

    In 1995 National Quarries was operating one granite quarry in San Diego County. At that time the headquarters for the company was Perris, California.

  • San Diego County, California – Sim J. Harris Company (Stone) (active ca 1996) (From Mines and Mineral Producers Active in California (1994-1995), Special Publication 103 (Revised 1996), California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology, in cooperation with California Department of Conservation, Office of Mine Reclamation. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

    Mine name: Sim J. Harris Company; Operator: Sim J. Harris Company; Address & County: P. O. Box 639069, San Diego County; Phone: (619) 277-5481; Latitude: 32.88, Longitude: -117.13, and Mine location number: Map No. 641; Mineral commodity: Stone.

  • San Diego, San Diego County, California – the Southwest Onyx and Marble Company  (previously known as the Southwest Onyx and Marble Company)

    Guide to The Southwest Onyx and Marble Company, presented by the San Diego History Center. (The following excerpt is from the Guide.)

    (from the web site)  Biographical Or Historical Note:

  • “Established in San Diego under the direction of Leslie B. Mills and later operated by his son John Y. Mills, the Lyman-Mills Onyx and Marble Company became the Southwest Onyx and Marble Company in 1921. It specialized in the fabrication of building fixtures and novelty works made of onyx from its Pedrara Onyx Company quarry in Baja California, Mexico. After the quarry closed in the late 1970s and John Y. Mills retired in 1992, the Southwest Onyx and Marble Company ceased operation....”

  • San Diego County, California – TTT Quarry (Stone) (active ca 1996) (From Mines and Mineral Producers Active in California (1994-1995), Special Publication 103 (Revised 1996), California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology, in cooperation with California Department of Conservation, Office of Mine Reclamation. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

    Mine name: TTT Quarry; Operator: Superior Ready Mix Concrete; Address & County: 12494 Hwy. 67, Lakeside, CA 92040, San Diego County; Phone: (619) 443-7510; Latitude: 32.91, Longitude: -116.94, and Mine location number: Map No. 646; Mineral commodity: Stone.

  • San Diego County, California – UCLH San Marcos (Stone) (active ca 1996) (From Mines and Mineral Producers Active in California (1994-1995), Special Publication 103 (Revised 1996), California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology, in cooperation with California Department of Conservation, Office of Mine Reclamation. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

    Mine name: UCLH San Marcos; Operator: South Coast Materials Company; Address & County: P. O. Box 639069, San Diego County; Phone: (619) 729-2010; Latitude: 33.13, Longitude: -117.17, and Mine location number: Map No. 647; Mineral commodity: Stone.

  • San Marcos District, San Diego County, California – Emil Johnson and Sons (National Quarries) (Granite) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 9 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "National Blue granite." First year of production was 1946, last year of production was 1948.
  • San Marcos District, San Diego County, California – Pete Matson (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 13 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "California Black granite." First year of production was 1948, last year of production was 1948.
  • San Marcos District, San Diego County, California – Matson & Kouns (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 13 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "California Black granite." First year of production was 1944, last year of production was 1946.
  • San Marcos District, San Diego County, California – Matson and McDonald (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 13 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "California Black granite." First year of production was 1938, last year of production was 1944.
  • San Marcos District, San Diego County, California – the Pomona Granite Company (Granite) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 16 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone. First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1945.
  • San Marcos District, San Diego County, California – Texas Quarries (Stone Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 20 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the San Marcos District of San Diego County, produced a black stone. First year of production was 1944, last year of production was 1944.
  • Santee, San Diego County, California – Santee area Granite Quarries circa 1913 (Granite)  (from the chapter in “California” (pdf), by G. F. Loughlin, in the Mineral Resources of the United States Calendar Year 1913, Part II.  Nonmetals, United States Geological Survey, 1914, pp. 1356)

    “The granite from Santee is used largely for monumental work, also for building stone, and large quantities of it have been shipped to Los Angeles and other points in southern  California.  In monuments it resembles the widely used granite from Barre, Vt.  The rock is of medium to rather dark gray color, distinctly darker than the average California granite, and of medium, even grain.  It is composed essentially of bluish gray translucent feldspars and black intergrowths of hornblende, augite, biotite, and magnetite.  All the minerals appear to be quite free from alteration.  The rock takes a good polish, which, with its dark color, especially adapts it for monumental work.”

  • Santee District, San Diego County, California – Jose Covas (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 1 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Santee District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "San Diego Black granite." First year of production was 1900, last year of production was 1926.
  • Santee District, San Diego County, California – John Grant (Stone Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")

    This quarry was located in the Santee District of San Diego County. First year of production was 1913, last year of production was 1915.

  • Santee, San Diego County, California – the Simpson-Pirnie Granite Company (Granite) (From The Structural and Industrial Materials of California, Bulletin No. 38, California, State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1906.)

    "Simpson-Pirnie Granite Company, James Simpson, president, San Diego. At Santee, a station on the San Diego, Cuyamaca and Eastern Railway, 3 miles north of El Cajon and 25 miles north of San Diego, is a granite quarry that has been operated for several years. A short railway spur extends from Santee to the quarry, which is on the north side of the El Cajon Valley. The granite is quarried by hand. The stone is a bright-colored, light-gray, biotite-augite granite, which has a reddish to brownish tint on the weathered outcrop. In some places this brownish discoloration from the oxidation of the iron extends several feet below the surface, while in other places it is a mere shell on the surface. In the middle of the quarry face is a dike-like band that shows several open vertical joint seams, but elsewhere on the face the rock is massive and almost free from open seams. It has a remarkable straight fracture, and is easily obtained in regular rectangular blocks as large as can be handled. There is comparatively little stripping to the granite mass and no expensive waste in quarrying. As the quarry is at the base of the butte, the height of the quarry face will increase as it is worked back toward the center of the hill. The stone is quite uniform in texture and color, with the exception of a few small dark blotches caused by a local segregation of the dark mica flakes. It is used largely for monuments, and for this purpose it is cut and dressed at the company's yard in San Diego and shipped in considerable quantities to Los Angeles and other points in southern California. It also makes an excellent building stone, for which it is used to some extent."

    Figure 11. Sheet structure at Simpson quarry, Santee. Sheet structure at Simpson quarry, Santee.
    • Santee Station (near), San Diego County, California – Simpson-Pirnie Granite Company Quarry (Granodiorite) (Excerpt from Report XIV of the State Mineralogist - Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist's Report - Biennial Period 1913-1914, Part V. "The Counties of San Diego, Imperial," by Frederick J. H. Merrill, Ph.D., Field Assistant (field work in December, 1914), California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 427-634.)

      "Simpson-Pirnie Granite Company, James Simpson, president, Peter C. Pirnie, secretary. Office and works. Two quarries are worked. One is near Santee station on the San Diego, Cuyamaca and Eastern Railway, 25 miles from San Diego in the east side of the hill south of the station. The property comprises 49 acres.

      "The granite is quarried by hand. The stone is a bright-colored light gray grano-diorite with a reddish to brownish tint on the weathered outcrop. In some places this discoloration from the oxidation of the iron extends several feet below the surface, while in others it is merely superficial. For the most part the rock is massive and almost free from open seams. It has a remarkably straight fracture, and is easily obtained in rectangular blocks as large as can be handled. There is little stripping and no expensive waste in quarrying. The stone is quite uniform in texture and color, with the exception of a few small blotches caused by local segregation of dark mica flakes. It is largely used for monuments, and for this purpose is cut and dressed at the company's yard in San Diego and shipped in considerable quantities to Los Angeles and other points in southern California. It also makes an excellent building stone, for which it is used to some extent. The annual product amounts to 5,000 cubic feet of dimension stone, 200,000 of paving blocks and 1,500 tons of riprap."

      "Dr. A. S. Eakle's determination of (this rock) is as follows:….

      "Pirnie-Simpson, Santee. Granodiorite. A thin section shows much triclinic feldspar as well as orthoclase, a small amount of quartz, biotite and hornblende."

      (This quarry was in operation ca. 1914.)

      For a description of the second quarry mentioned in the description above, also operated by this company, see:

      Foster (west of), San Diego County, California – Simpson-Pirnie Granite Company Quarry above)

    • Santee District, San Diego County, California – the Simpson-Pirnee Granite Company (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
      No. 17 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Santee District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone. First year of production was 1888, last year of production was 1932.
  • Spring Valley (southwest of), San Diego County, California – Independent Stone Company Quarry & Crushing Plant (Felsite) (Excerpt from Report XIV of the State Mineralogist - Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist's Report - Biennial Period 1913-1914, Part V. "The Counties of San Diego, Imperial," by Frederick J. H. Merrill, Ph.D., Field Assistant (field work in December, 1914), California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 427-634.)

    "Independent Stone Company, 713 American National Bank Building, Geo. L. Parker, president, L. J. Rice, secretary. This company produces crushed stone for concrete and sand for the same purpose and for general building operations. The stone quarry is southwest of Spring Valley station on the west side of the track. The crushing plant is on the east side of the railroad at the same point. The rock is a fine grained felsite which forms a hill immediately north of Lemon Grove, rising some 300 feet above the mesa level. The production of crushed stone is 75,000 tons per year…."*

    (* The information on the building sand shipped by the Independent Stone Company will not be included here.)

    Quarry of the Independent Stone Co. Near Spring Valley. Quarry of the Independent Stone Co. Near Spring Valley.
    Crushing Plant of the Independent Stone Co. Near Spring Valley. Crushing Plant of the Independent Stone Co. Near Spring Valley.
    Filling Storage Bins. Independent Stone Co. Filling Storage Bins. Independent Stone Co.
  • Suncrest District, San Diego County, California – the Clemens Granite Company (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 5 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Suncrest District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Suncrest Gray granite." First year of production was 1946, last year of production was 1948.
  • Suncrest District, San Diego County, California – Daniel McCarthy (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 5 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Suncrest District of San Diego County, produced a gray stone, trade name "Suncrest Gray granite." First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1945.
  • Temecula Cañon, San Diego County, California – Granite Quarries  (Granite)  (Excerpts from Ninth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1889 (pdf), California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento:  California State Printing Office, 1890. 

    “In the Temecula Cañon itself there are now two quarries, one about two miles and the other about three miles below the railroad station.  From the lower one of these quarries, a block was lying at Temecula Station on November tenth, which will dress into a thirty-inch cube, of a dark gray and fine-grained syenite without a flaw.  This block is to form the basis of a monument of some sort at San Diego.  The rock contains a little magnetic iron.  But it appears to be very hard and strong, and will probably take a beautiful polish and prove to be very durable.”

  • Temecula Canyon, San Diego County, California – Limestone Quarry & Kilns  (Limestone/Lime/Kilns)  (Excerpts from Ninth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1889 (pdf), California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento:  California State Printing Office, 1890. 

    “At one locality within this belt, and on about the middle of the south half of Section 28, of Township 5 south, Range 4 west, S.B.M., there is a considerable body of hard, dark blue, compact limestone.  Here, two small kilns have been built, and some of the limestone burned, producing, it is said, a very good quality of lime.  A company is now being organized for the purpose of manufacturing hydraulic cement by mixing this lime in certain proportions with the clays that occur in such large quantities among the hills northwest of Elsinore.”

  • Temecula Station, San Diego County, California – Granite Quarry in the Foothills on the southwest edge of the Valley  (Granite)  (Excerpts from Ninth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1889 (pdf), California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento:  California State Printing Office, 1890. 

    “At Temecula Station there was lying (November 10, 1889) a considerable quantity of dressed street paving blocks of a moderately coarse-grained, light-gray granite, which is stained more or less yellowish in places by oxide of iron.

    “The rock seems to be hard and durable, and splits and dresses well.  It has been used for paving-blocks in Los Angeles and San Diego, all for street curbing in both those cities, and also in San Francisco.  The quarry from which it comes is situated in the foothills on the southwest edge of the valley,  about half a mile southeasterly from the head of Temecula Cañon.  And here it may be well to correct an error which occurs on page 174 of the seventh annual report, lines five to eight from bottom of the page, where it is stated that Elsinore Lake, in times of heavy rains, ‘discharges its surplus waters into Temecula Cañon, a branch of Temescal Creek, which runs to the Santa Ana River.’  The writer was led into his mistake about the name of the creek by an erroneous map on which the upper part of Temescal Creek is labeled ‘Temecula Cañon….’”

  • Temecula Valley, California - Granite Quarries. Temecula History - A Chronology 1797-1993, compiled by Emily Gerstbacher. Granite quarrying began about 1883 in the hills south of town. The granite was used for curb stones, foundation blocks, and paving stones throughout California. the quarrying continued until 1915. (The link from which this information was obtained is no longer available. The article was located on the PE.com web site.)
    <http://www.pe.net/~dilemman/History1.htm>
  • Vista District, San Diego County, California – the California Cut Stone and Granite Company (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 3 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Vista District of San Diego County, produced a black stone, trade name "Vista Black granite." First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1947.
    • Vista, San Diego County, California – California Cut Stone (Granite) (Excerpt from "California Mineral Commodities in 1951," California State Division of Mines, California Journal of Mines and Geology, pp. Vol. 50, No. 1, January 1954, pp. 59-147. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

      (Operator) California Cut Stone; (Address) Railroad Ave., at Magnolia, South San Francisco; (Location) Vista.

  • Vista District, San Diego County, California – Emil Johnson and Sons (Granite Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    Figure 2. Boulder of black granite being worked in quarry. Emil Johnson and Sons quarry, Vista. Boulder of black granite being worked in quarry.
    Figure 9. Residual boulders in granular matrix. Emil Johnson and Sons quarry, Vista. Residual boulders in granular matrix.
    Figure 12. Partly weathered rock traversed by numerous fractures. Emil Johnson and Sons quarry, Vista. Partly weathered rock traversed by numerous fractures.
  • Vista District, San Diego County, California – Fellows and Clutter (Stone Quarry) (From Commercial 'Black Granite' of San Diego County, California, Special Report 3, by Richard A. Hoppin and L. A. Norman, Jr., State of California, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, December 1950.")
    No. 8 on "Figure 1. Index map of San Diego County granite quarries," located in the Vista District of San Diego County, produced a black stone. First year of production was 1945, last year of production was 1946.

[Top of Page]