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Home > Indiana > List of Quarries in Indiana & Quarry Links, Photographs and Articles
(The following list of Indiana quarries is not a complete list of all of the historical quarries in the state, only the ones I have been able to locate. If you know of more historical quarries in Indiana, please contact me. Peggy B. Perazzo)
“Building-Stone. - The conglomerate sandstone in this county furnishes an abundance of good freestone for building purposes. In color it ranges from whitish-gray to a brownish-red.
“Quarries of this stone have been opened near Attica, on the Toledo, Wabash and Western railroad, in Logan township, and afford a coarse-grained, grayish-brown, durable sandstone, that can be quarried in blocks from one to four feet or more in thickness, and of any required length and width. Other quarries have also been opened at Portland, on the Wabash and Erie Canal, where a stone similar to that from Attica is obtained.”
The Bedford Quarries Company
Bedford, Indiana
W. J. Craig, Manager
Quarries: Hoosier, Oolitic, Buff Ridge.
Chicago Office: 185 Dearborn Street, W. H. Hill, Sales Agent.
New York Agent: Geo. W. White, 160 Fifth Ave.
Prices Reduced - Beginning October 1, 1895, until further notice, THE BEDFORD QUARRIES COMPANY will sell stone from its quarries at the following prices, f.o.b. quarries:
No. 1 Mill Blocks, Buff or Blue
Unscabbled – 13 cents per cubic foot. - Scabbled – 15 cents per cubic foot
Mixed Mill Blocks
Unscabbled – 8 cents per cubic foot. - Scabbled – 10 cents per cubic foot
Sawed Stone, Buff or Blue
No. 1. Sawed two sides, 28 cents per cubic foot.
No. 1. Sawed four sides, 43 cents per cubic foot.
Mixed. Sawed two sides, 23 cents per cubic foot.
Mixed. Sawed four sides, 38 cents per cubic foot.
Prices on Dimension Stone will be furnished on application.
Terms. Net, 60 days. A discount of 5 per cent. will be allowed on all bills paid within 15 days from date of shipment. Subject to draft after 60 days.
The Bedford Indiana Stone Co.
Main Office: No. 19 Baldwin Block, Indianapolis, Ind.
Quarrymen and Wholesale Dealers in Rough and Sawed
Bedford Oolitic Limestone, Quarries and Mills at Bedford, Ind.
The only oolitic quarry in Indiana having competing railroads in the quarries. Direct shipments made via. the L., N.A. & C., E. & R., and the B. & O. S. W. Railways, thus insuring prompt service at all times.
New York Agents, Messrs. G. P. Sherwood & Co., 150 Nassau Street.
Philadelphia Agent, Frank Williamson, 2202 Chestnut Street.
Chicago Agent, C. C. Witt, 3458 Wabash Avenue.
“Anyone who has traveled extensively will certainly have seen famous buildings faced in large part with Indiana limestone.
“Ind. 37. - Bloomington, Oolitic, and Bedford are centers of stone production (circa 1967). Many of the Nation’s most famous buildings are partially constructed of Indiana oolitic limestone from this area. Quarries are visible from Ind. 37 at Oolitic. Numerous quarries and finishing mills are in the area. Inquire locally for permission to visit finishing mills and quarries.”
Bedford Monumental Works,
Wholesale Dealers in Statuary, Rustic and Rockfaced Monuments, Markers, Vases, Settees, Turned Work, Bases, Sawed and Dimension stone Etc. Etc. We make a Specialty of Rustic Monuments which we guarantee to be superior in finish to anything produced in Bedford Stone. Fine Paris Panel Designs $2.00 per dozen. Send your tracings for estimates. Lock Box 465, Bedford Ind.
Bedford Steam Stone Works
Quarrymen and Wholesale Dealers in
Bedford Limestone - Rough, Dimension and Sawed.
Our Quarries are situated in the famous Dark Hollow Region.
Our mills and yard are in Bedford, on the L., N. A. & O. E’y, and the E. & R. R’y.
Mill Blocks Sawed. Flags, Sills, Caps, Coping and Posts.
Base Stock to Trade Only.
Prices and Quality Guaranteed. We make a specialty of Turned Columns, Posts, Balusters, etc.
Shipping facilities not equaled here, being the only mill having switches from competing railroads. Estimates given on Stone Fronts, Trimmings, Vaults, etc.
The Bedford Steam Stone Works
C. H. Thornton, Pres’t. – E. B. Thornton Sec’y
Quarrymen and Wholesale Dealers in Buff and Blue Bedford Limestone.
Rough, Dimension and Sawed.
Quarries in Dark Hollow, Ind. - Mills and Yard at Bedford, Ind., on L. N. A. &: C. and E. & R. Railways.
The only Stone Mill having switches from Competing Railroads.
Bedford, Indiana
The Bedford Steam Stone Works,
Bedford, Ind.
H. C. Thornton, Pres’t. – E. B. Thornton, Sec’y.
Quarrymen and wholesale Dealers in Buff and Blue Bedford Limestone - Rough, Dimension and Sawed.
Quarries in Buff Ridge, Ind. Mills and Yard at Bedford, Ind., on C., I. & L., and So. Ind. Railways.
Planed Mouldings and Turned Balusters.
The only Stone Mill here having switches from Competing Railroads.
C. D. Donato Cut Stone Co.
(Incorporated)
Bedford, Indiana
Indiana Limestone Cut, Ready To Set - F.O.B. or Delivered - Please Send Plans for Estimates
C. S. Norton Bluestone Co., Bedford, Ind.
“Royal Blue.” – Dark Blue Stone.
C. S. Norton Bluestone Co., Bedford, Ind.
“Royal Blue” – Dark Blue Stone.
Howard L. Woody, 24 East 42d St., New York, Gen. Eastern Agent
The Chicago and Bedford Stone Co.
Bedford, Ind.
H. L. Thornton, Pres. – E. B. Thornton, Sec’.y
Cornelius Vanderbilt, W. K. Vanderbilt,
C. P. Huntington, Robert Goelet, and many other
“Napoleons of Finance” live in palaces of
The famous – Bedford Stone – Quarried only by
The Chicago and Bedford Stone Co.
| (colorized postcard photograph #10799; the Acme Graph Co., Chicago; no postmark, early 1900s) |  |
“Practicability versus Pretense
“Selecting stone for a building is much the same as planning a new suit of clothes. The owner desires it to have the appearance of “newness” and naturally his taste turns to bright colors. On further thought, however, his decision is governed by practicability rather than pretense.
“If the cut stone contractor desires the lasting good-will of his client, he will explain to him the short-lived beauty of the Buff Indiana Limestone and the permanent beauty of the Gray stone.
“Gray is a symbol of immortality and it is significant that architects have selected stone of this color for edifices that have endured for centuries.
“From the Consolidated Dark Hollow Quarry at Bedford, Indiana, five thousand carloads of Indiana Limestone are shipped across the continent annually to be used in the erection of various types of buildings. An analysis of our records shows that Gray Indiana Limestone predominates in these shipments. Preference of architects, when natural stone is specified, is for Gray Indiana Limestone.
“And this preference for Gray is not surprising to those who are experienced with the use of natural stone. The Gray is of firmer texture and finer in grain than the general run of Indiana Limestone. In any climate and under any conditions, Gray Indiana Limestone weathers beautifully.
The Consolidated Stone Company, Bedford, Indiana
Representatives:
Michael Cohen & Co., 8 W. 40 th St., New York City
J. W. Ward, 716 Marquette Bldg., Chicago, Ill.
G. W. Muir, Fort Washington, Pa.
George W. Houlsby, 716 Marquette Bldg., Chicago, Ill.
Martin Brick Co., Chamber of Commerce Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa.
R. E. Farley, 421 Free Press Bldg., Detroit, Mich.
J. Blackburn, 716 A. & R. Bldg., Kansas City, Mo.
A. W. Steward, Builders’ Exchange, Toronto, Ont.
E. E. Dickinson, Bedford, Ind.
Cross & Rowe.
Bedford, Indiana.
Wholesale Rustic Works.
Manufacturers of Rustic Monuments, Vases, Settees, Chairs, Markers and Log Curbing. Estimates given on any work in Bedford Stone. Photo Gravure Designs. On sheets 11 x 14 inches, $2 per dozen.
The Furst-Kerber Cut Stone Co.
Quarries and Mills: Bedford, Ind.
Chicago Office: 2301 South La Salle St.
Performance based on personal service.
The Hallowell Stone Co., Bedford, Ind.
Bedford Stone, Blue and Buff.
Mills and Workshops at the Junction of the L., N. A. & C. Ry., the B.& B. R. R., and the E. & R. R. R. Shipping facilities unsurpassed. Regarding quality of Stone and Workmanship, we refer to the Mutual Life Insurance Building and Times Building in New York, also Cotton Exchange Building in New Orleans, La.
Quarries in Dark Hollow
Stone Fronts, Cemetery Vaults, Large Platforms, all kinds of Trimming and Planed Moldings A Specialty.
The Hallowell Stone Co., Bedford, Ind.
Mills and Workshops at the Junction of the L., N. A. & C. Ry., the B. & B. R. R.,
and the E. & R. R. R. Shipping facilities unsurpassed.
Quarries in Dark Hollow. - Bedford Stone, Blue and Buff.
Regarding Quality of Stone and Workmanship, we refer to the Mutual Insurance Building and Times Building in New York, also Cotton Exchange Building in New Orleans, La. Stone Fronts, Cemetery Vaults, Large Platforms, all kinds of Trimmings and Planed Moldings A Specialty.
Henry Struble Cut Stone Company, Producers and Fabricators of Cut Indiana Limestone
Offices: 689 Continental-Commercial Bank Bldg. Chicago, Illinois – Bedford, Indiana
Bedford, Indiana – the Hoosier Quarry in “A New ‘Duplex’ Channeler for Oölitic Limestone,” (in PDF format), by C. J. Levey, Claremont, New Hampshire, in Mine and Quarry Magazine, Vol. VII, No. 2, January 1913, pp. 676-680)
| “The Hoosier Quarry on a busy day; Sullivan Duplex Channeler in foreground” (pp. 676) |  |
Sullivan Duplex “VW61” Channeler and “Turntable” (pp. 678) |
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The Sulivan Duplex Channeler being swung on the turn table. (pp. 678) |
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The thickness of mud through which the Duplex Channeler cut 1,000 square feet in ten hours is well shown by these pictures. (pp. 680) |
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| (postcard photograph, #92983; "C. T. Photo Finish," U. S. Pat. Off., Made only by Curt-Teich Co., Chicago; early 1900s, unmailed) |  |
| (postcard photograph, 124008; published by B. F. Williams, Bedford, Indiana; C. T. American Art Black and White; unmailed, early 1900s |  |
| (postcard photograph, early 1900s, unmailed) |  |
| Largest stone ever shipped from Bedford, Ind. Quarries. Bedford Stone Quarries Co., Bedford, Ind., W't. 100,000 Lbs. Stone 12 feet 8 inches by 6 feet 3 inches by 6 feet 3 inches. |  |
| Showing Trestle on Bedford Belt Railway 70 feet high and 800 feet in length. |  |
| View of 40-foot Rock Cut on Bedford Belt Railway. |  |
| Principal Storing Yards of Bedford Belt Railway. |  |
Plate VI. Quarry in limestone, Bedford, Ind. Photo., Bedford Quarries Co. A horizontally bedded limestone, showing some weathering along the vertical joint planes.
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The Imperial Stone Company, Bedford, Indiana
Operating
Bedford Steam Stone Works
Imperial Stone Company
“Old Blue Hole Quarry"
Among other things, “consistency” means service in the matter of payment equivalent to the character of service received.”
| Photograph of cut blocks |  |
| Laborers working in Indiana Limestone Co. Quarry. See description below. |  |
Titan. Under the trees and soil of the Indiana hills lies the bed of an ancient inland sea, once peopled with small, shell-bearing animalcules. Dying, these formed a massive deposit of oölite, also called limestone a material which has become the glory of the American skyscraper. Titan among the world's limestone quarriers is the Indiana Limestone Co., which has learned to chisel out great slabs twelve feet deep, eighty feet long, and four feet wide.When the slabs are pulled over by huge cranes, the piles of little rocks below act as cushions to catch them. Once each slab is on its side, laborers swarm over it to drill, chip, and chisel it into smaller blocks
| Limestone blocks awaiting shipment in Indiana Limestone Co. Quarry. See description below. |  |
"For the Pyramids of America. The blocks of the Egyptian pyramids weighed two and one-half tons (joined together into larger units). The average run of blocks of the Indiana Limestone Co. weigh from five to forty tons., though mammoth units of more than a hundred tons can be handled. Summer is the quarrying season, when thousands of tons of limestone are collected in the stacking yards.for shipment. On large jobs the stone is cut to the architect's specifications, loaded in trucks, and lifted directly to its proper place on the walls. It is timed to the building job (where, of course, there is no storage space) by 1,000-mile telephonic connections between foremen."
| More limestone blocks stacked in yard. |  |
| "The Hand of the Architect. controls from afar the gang saws that cut the slabs into rough strips according to his specifications. Some wide, some narrow, each is already marked for its place in a skyscraper's wall." |  |
| "A Diamond-Toothed Rotor.receiving piles of slabs from the gang saws, cross-cuts them into handier sizes, gives them a perfect finish for the walls of American cities at 700 revolutions per minute." |  |
| Source of Empire State Building Limestone. See description below. |  |
"Here Lay The Empire State Building.in
prehistoric majesty before its 207,000 cubic feet of limestone (18,630
tons) were quarried and shipped to Manhattan. The great hole is now abandoned.
Rain water collects in it; moisture seeps in through its ledges; it is
forgotten. Eventually, stuffed with refuse and rejected blocks, it will
disappear from the sight of man."
| (postcard photograph #F-468; manufactured by Wayne Paper Box 8 Prtg. Corp., Fort Wayne, Ind.; unmailed) |  |
Bedford, Indiana – Oolitic Limestone Quarry near Bedford Indiana (photo contributed by Bev Harber from her great-aunt Edna Trotter’s travel photograph collection. Below is the caption Edna Trotter wrote on the back of the photograph:
| (Photo caption) “Wed. afternoon – Aug. 26, 1942. One of the famous Bedford Stone quarries near Bedford, Ind. (on our way to McCormicks Creek) ‘Oolitic Limestone’” |  |
| (postcard photograph, 10865; Hoover-Watson Printing Co., Indianapolis, Ind.; no postmark, early 1900s) |  |
| (postcard photograph, 124009; published by B. F. Williams, Bedford, Ind.; no postmark, early 1900s) |  |
| (postcard photograph, 124010; published by B. F. Williams, Bedford,Ind.; no postmark, early 1900s) |  |
Bedford, Indiana - Indiana Monument & Cut Stone, Inc. (present-day company) (A few of the interesting sections of the web site are listed below.)
Inter-State Cut Stone Company
Indiana Limestone
Office and Mill: Bedford, Indiana
New York Office: 30 East 42 nd Street
J. P. Falt Co.
Cut Stone Contractors
Indiana Limestone Longmeadow Sandstone - Ohio Sandstone
Works
Springfield, Mass. Bedford, Indiana
Main Office - Springfield, Mass.
John A. Rowe Cut Stone Co.
Contractors for Building and Cemetery Work in
Indiana Limestone, Bedford, Ind.
"Limestone quarried and fabricated near Bedford, Indiana, center of the Indiana limestone industry, has long been a favorite among architects. Bedford stone possesses both beauty and durability, lending itself easily to carving and delicate tracery. Cuts of stone are extracted from the solid floor or ledge of the quarry, drilled and broken up into mill blocks, hoisted from the quarry by derricks and transported to the mill for fabrication."
(color postcard photograph, K334; Readmore Distributing Co., Jeffersonville, Ind.; Curteichcolor; no postmark)
Perry Matthews & Buskirk Co.
Wholesale Dealers and Quarrymen
General Office, Bedford, Ind.
W. N. Matthews, Pres. & Gen. Man.
H. F. Perry, G. K. Perry, S. E. Matthews, P. K. Buskirk
Bedford Oolitic Limestone, Largest Dimension and Mill Blocks a Specialty.
First Quality of Oolitic Stone Guaranteed.
We are represented in New York by Messrs. C. F. Woodward & Co., 257 Broadway; Philadelphia by Garrett & Dix, 3901 Walnut St.; Boston by H. O. Stiles, P.O. Box 3198; Chicago by W. C. Crosler, 920 Chicago Stock Exchange Bldg., cor. La Salle and Washington sts. Telephone Main 1866.
Reed-Powers Cut Stone Co., Inc.
Cut Stone Contractors and Quarrymen, Bedford, Indiana
Shea & Donnelly Company
Established 1889
Indiana Limestone Furnished For All Purposes
Mills and Quarries: Bedford, Indiana; Mill: Charlestown, Mass.
Offices: Bedford, Indiana
Charlestown, Mass., 34 Roland St., Near Sullivan Square
Weld County Court House, Greeley, Colorado
The Standard Stone Company
A. B. Tresslar, Pres. – W. N. Matthews, Sec.’y
Architects and Building Contractors should investigate the distinctive merits of the Light Blue and Buff Bedford Stone Which is quarried and sold by The Standard Stone Co.
The Stone Company.
Established 1889
Oolitic Limestone. - Rough or Sawed. - Large Platforms, Bedway and Large Mill Blocks our Specialty.
Bloomington, Ind.
Indiana Limestone From the Quarries of W. McMillan & Son. Lends beauty and dignity to scores of representative buildings in all sections of the county. To meet increased demands and to render prompt and satisfactory service to the cut stone trade, this company has been pursuing extensive stripping operations during the winter, and with its three quarries and four mills is in a position to meet requirements in Indiana Limestone in what we hope is going to be a banner year in the construction industry.
W. McMillan & Son
Chicago Office: 10 So. LaSalle St.
General Offices: Bedford, Indiana
Representatives:
Charles W. Nisbett, 110 East 42 nd Street, New York
Geo. E. Scranton, 615 Witherspoon Bldg., Philadelphia, Pa.
John P. Ries, 912 Otis Bldg., Chicago, Ill.
J. B. Dodd, 912 Otis Bldg., Chicago, Ill.
Will J. Blair, Jr., Bedford, Ind.
R. C. Correll, Bedford, Ind.
3 Quarries – 4 Mills
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.
