Quarries in Missouri & Quarry Links, Photographs, and Articles
Phenix Quarries

• Phenix (near), Green County, Missouri – the Phoenix Limestone Quarries (from Past and Present of Greene County, Missouri: Early and Recent History and Genealogical Records of Many of the Representative Citizens, Jonathan Fairbanks and Clyde Edwin Tuck (ca. 1914), presented by the Springfield-Greene County Library.)

  (The following information is from Chapter 3. Economic Geology, by Edward M. Shepard, Part 1.)

  “Phoenix Quarries. - These quarries are located near the town of Phoenix, in the northwestern part of the county, and were opened in 1888. They are in the middle beds of the Upper Burlington limestone, and the plant is equipped for working, handling and sawing blocks of all sizes, with a quarrying capacity of eight hundred cubic feet a day.”

• Phenix, Missouri – Phenix Limestone & Marble – Excerpts from “Some American Marbles,” in Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, March 1916, Vol. XXXVII, No. 3, pp. 143-145. (This magazine is available in Google Book Search – Full View Books.)

  “Recent conditions in Europe have caused a decrease in imports of marble into the United States. Building activity in this country is also dull, but with the general revival of business it is to be expected that building operations will increase again and accordingly that there may arise a demand for domestic marble to supplement the decreased supply from abroad. There are several domestic marbles and limestones, suitable some for interior decorative work and some for exterior work also, that are entitled to broader recognition than they have heretofore received, writes G. F. McLoughlin in the Bulletin of Mineral Research for 1914, just issued by the United States Geological Survey. Some of these marbles have been used for a considerable time and others have been quarried only during the last two or three years….”

  “Among the Central States west of Mississippi River limestone and marble suitable for interior decorative work are quarried in Arkansas, Missouri, Minnesota and Texas….”

  “The marble quarried at Phenix, Mo., is also generally similar to the Carthage stone, but its wavy suture lines give it a closer resemblance to the gray Tennessee marble. It is composed largely of shell fragments that have completely recrystallized and thus produced the texture of marble. It is known under the trade name of ‘Napoleon Gray marble.’ It has already been used in many cities of the Central States and has been shipped as far east as New York.”

  (Photo caption) “Office of the Brooklyn Union Gas Company. Finished in Napoleon Gray Marble from the quarries of the Phenix Marble Company, Kansas City, Mo. Tompkins-Kiel Marble Company, New York, sole sales agents.”

• Phenix, Missouri - Phenix Marble Company Mill & Yard (1916) (Company letter in Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, April 1916, Vol. XXXVII, No. 4, pp. 170. Below is the information from letterhead to Stone Magazine dated March 21, 1916. Click on the thumbnail below if you wish to read the letter.)

  • 

    Martin Simpson, President – W. C. Scarritt, Vice President – A. W. Borrow, Secretary

    General Office: Phenix Marble Company

    Producers and Manufacturers of

    Napoleon Gray Marble – Phenix Sawed Stone – Phenix White Lime – Phenix Cut Stone

    19th and Olive Sts.

    Quarries: Phenix, Missouri

    Mills: Phenix, Missouri, and Kansas City, Mo. - Yards: Kansas City, Mo., and Phenix, Missouri

  • Phenix, Missouri – the Phenix Marble Company (circa 1916) (from Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, April 1916, Vol. XXXVII, No. 4, pp. 250)

    “The very large increase in demand for Napoleon Gray Marble, and in particular for floor material made from this product, made it necessary for the Phenix Marble Company to close down its mill for a period of thirty days for the erection of a new central power plant. New boilers, engines and generators have been installed and are now in operation, so that the company will be in a position to take care of the increased demand this year without further interruptions.

  • Phenix, Green County, Missouri – the Phenix Marble Company (Advertisement) (from Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, April 1916, Vol. XXXVII, No. 4, pp. 184. This advertisement was also published in the following editions of Stone Magazine: April 1916, Vol. XXXVII, No. 4, pp. 184; and May 1916, Vol. XXXVII, No. 5, pp. 238.)

    Napoleon Gray Marble

    A sound material of superior texture and pleasing color for interior and exterior use. Furnished in large blocks. Large stock on hand insuring prompt shipments. Sawn across the bed shows distinct sound veining – no filling necessary.

    Interior Blocks and saws stock only.

    Exterior Large and modern cut stone mills.

    Estimates Furnished Promptly

    Phenix Marble Company 19th and Olive Sts., Kansas City, MO.

  • Phenix, Missouri – the Phenix Marble Company (1916) (from Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, October 1916, Vol. XXXVII, No. 10, “Marble and Granite” section, pp. 540-541)

    “The Phenix Marble Company, of Phenix, Mo., and Kansas City Mo., report trade conditions most satisfactory. August and September have compelled over-time in all departments, that is – quarry, mill, tile and cut stone. Their mill has been operating twenty-four hours a day since March. As their shipments have covered practically the entire United States, business would seem good in the marble and stone trade everywhere. New York City and territory, through the agency of the Tompkins-Kiel Marble Company, has consumed a very large portion of their output.”

  • Phenix, Missouri – Napoleon Gray Marble (Tompkins-Kiel Marble Co. of New York Advertisement) (from Stone: An Illustrated Magazine, January 1919, Vol. XL, No. 1, pp. 14. This advertisement was also published in the following editions of Stone Magazine: February 1919, pp. 62; March 1919, pp. 160; May 1919, pp. 208; June 1919, pp. 256; July 1919, pp. 304; August 1919, pp. 352; and September 1919, pp. 400. This magazine is available on Google Book Search – Full View Books.)

    Napoleon Gray Mrlbe (sic)

    Napoleon Gray Marble is meeting with great favor for Interior and Exterior uses. It has all the qualifications of a high grade marble.

    In Tone – It compares with the Imported Botticino, Hauteville, Tavernelle and other marbles of this color.

    In Soundness – It has no equal.

    In Price – It is less expensive than Tennessee, and most grades of Vermont marble.

    For Interior Use – Something New. It has been used in some of the finest and most notale (sic) of recent buildings.

    For Exterior Use – Twenty years on the market. We can show you Buildings that have been up eight to twenty years.

    Absolutely Frost Resisting – No Iron Impurities and Carves Beautifully.

    Samples Furnished on Request

    (photo caption) “Doorway – Brooklyn Trust Co. Executed in Napoleon Gray Marble. James McLaren & Son, Cut Stone Contractors.”

    American Marbles and Stones Equal to the Best from European Quarries

    Nebo Golden Travis (Utah’s rich product). A marble of rich golden background with variegated markings of antique rose and golden tints, which is meeting with great favor for bank, hotel and resident interior decoration.

    Sylvan Green Marble, from Easton, Penn. A light marble, similar in color to the well-known Irish Green Marbles.

    Westfield Green (America’s Verde Antique), being a dark green marble with light green markings, which is hard, sound and polishes well. This marble has been used extensively throughout the country both for exterior and interior uses.

    American cream white lens (America’s Caen Stone). A Limestone of equal quality to French Caen Stone, both in color and texture, carves beautifully.

    Dunnville Stone (quarried at Dunnville, Wis.). This material is exceptionally good quality, rich in color and adaptable to exterior as well as interior uses. This stone is of a cream white ground, with tints of pink and yellow water lines running through, which gives it character and a warmth in color, absolutely unknown in any other stone now on the market. Analysis shows Dunnville stone to be very fine grain, 98.64% Silica, crushing strength of 3,872.5 lbs. to the cubic inch.

    Littleton Stone (quarried at Littleton, W. Va.). It is typical of the English Stade Stone from New Castle, as well as the English Dorchester Stone, being of a light golden buff shade, which does not change color, but always remains the same. This stone is meeting with considerable favor for both interior and exterior uses. Good sizes and large quantities can be furnished. Crushing strength, 8,110 lbs. to square inch. Specific gravity, 2,509.

    Samples, Analysis and List of Buildings where the above have been used will be sent upon request.

    Tompkins-Kiel Marble Co., 505 Fifth Avenue, New York

    Importers and Wholesale Dealers in All Kinds of Foreign and Domestic Marbles and Stones

    Sales Agents for Pedrara (Mexican) Onyx

    Branches: Chicago, Philadelphia – Yard and Wharf: 63 Mill Street, Astoria, L.I.

    Address all Communications to New York Office

  • Phenix, Green County, Missouri - A Quarry at Phenix, Missouri, from “The History of Marble” by Col. John Stephen Sewell (Courtesy The Southern Banker) in Throvgh The Ages Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 12, April 1926, pp. 28-35.

    A general view of a quarry at Phenix, Missouri, that produces a gray marble.

• Phenix, Green County, Missouri - the Phenix Marble Company’s “Quarry A” - Napoleon Gray Marble

  Phenix Marble Company’s “Quarry A” (postcard photograph; Phenix, Mo. - Kansas City, Mo.; early 1900s)

  • Phenix, Greene County, Missouri - the Phenix Marble Company Plant (from Stone, Magazine, February 1920, Vol. XLI, No. 2, pp. 73)

    Fluting Marble Columns. Getting out big marble drums at the plant of the Phenix Marble Company, Kansas City, Mo.

  • Phenix, Greene County, Missouri - the Phenix Marble Company Power Plant (article from Stone Magazine, March 1923, Vol. XLIV, No. 3, pp. 155-156)

    Marble Company Modernizes Its Plant

    “The increase in the last few years in the demand for marble for interior decorative finishing, floors, stair treads and other purposes, has resulted in a new burden being placed on the marble quarrymen, that of furnishing blocks cut to specified dimensions. The condition, due primarily to a shortage of sawing capacity throughout the country, coupled with the growing demand for both its marble and cut stone, led the Phenix Marble Company, with quarries and plant located at Phenix, Greene County, Missouri, to plan a comprehensive improvement program, the initial units of which have just been completed. In conformity with this program the company has constructed a central power plant, using cut stone in the walls and a stone partition between the boiler and engine rooms, rendering the building thoroughly fireproof. This building is 133 feet long by 62 feet wide. The roof is concrete, as is the floor, which rests on the solid rock of the quarry ledge. The equipment consists of a modern 600 H.P. boiler, with space alongside for an additional boiler of 300 H.P. In the engine room are a 20 by 40 and 18 by 36 engines, the former driving a 300 k.v.a., 3 phase, 60 cycle, 2,300 volt generator and one 225 k.v.a. volt generator of similar type. A six panel switchboard, of Napoleon Gray marble, feeds the quarry, mill, power house and the town of Walnut Grove, located nearby. A steel strain and transformer tower serves as a starting point for all electric lines outside the building.

    New Cut Stone, Fireproof Power Plant, with Distribution Tower to Left, at the Phenix, Mo., Quarry of the Phenix Marble Company.

    Section of Quarry of the Phenix Marble Company, Showing Two of Seven Channelers Operating in Two of the Five Ledges.

    Crane Runway and Extension in Course of Construction at the Phenix Marble Company Quarry Preliminary to the Erection of Four New Steel Gangs, Planer and Machine Shop.

    “Near the new power plant extensions have been made to the crane runway and work is progressing for the erection of four new steel gangs, a planer and machine shop. The steel framework for this structure has been erected since the accompanying photographs were taken.

    “The quarry is equipped with 50 H.P. electric motors for the derricks and additional motors of various sizes are placed as required for pumpage and haulage. At present the Phenix Company is operating in seven ledges, the upper, or C ledge and the lower B ledge, being shown in the illustration. Below these ledges are the A ledge and the Xa and the Xb ledges. Other recent labor-saving devices and machinery installed at the quarry since last November include a new steam shovel and a geared locomotive for the handling of blocks from the quarry to the mill and for general switching at Phenix. The steam shovel is used for stripping. About half a mile of extra trackage has been laid in the property within the last few months.

    “In addition to its trade in Napoleon Gray Marble and cut stone the Phenix Marble Company supplies a large demand for fluxing stone, for lime manufacture and other commercial uses. To facilitate delivery of this material there has been installed a concrete loading dock enabling the wagons to dump direct into the cars without re-handling.

    “All of the new construction work done in carrying out of the improvement program has been executed by the company’s own employees, working under the supervision of Charles S. Cauble, the plant manager. All of the engineering features and details were designed and detailed by the plant’s engineers. When all of the new units are completed the Phenix Marble Company will have one of the bet equipped plants in the entire country.”

  • Phenix, Missouri - the Phenix Marble Company (from Stone Magazine, April 1923, Vol. XLIV, No. 4, pp. 218)

    “The Phenix Marble Company, Kansas City and Phenix, Mo., has issued to each of its employes (sic) a life insurance policy for $1,000, under a group plan. The premiums on the policies are paid by the company for this year, and will be continued thereafter if it is found that the plan meets all requirements for this class of protection.”

  • Phenix, Missouri - the Phenix Marble Company Offices (from Stone Magazine, July 1924, Vol. XLV, No. 7, pp. 428.

    “The Phenix Marble Company announces the removal of its offices to Suite 609 Scarritt Building, Kansas City, Missouri.”

  • Phenix, Missouri - the Phenix Marble Company Quarries & Mills (from Stone Magazine, October 1924, Vol. XLV, No. 10, pp. 608)

    Missouri Marble Company Now Operating On Five Ledges

    “The demand for marble for exterior, interior and decorative uses has reached such proportions that quarries producing those varieties most popular with the public are being forced to open new ledges, install new machinery and equipment to handle orders. About two years ago the Phenix Marble Company of Kansas City, Mo., with quarries and mills at Phenix, Mo., and mills at Kansas City, outlined a systematic plan of improvements. The first operation was the erection of all stone and marble power house with a capacity of sufficient voltage to serve the company’s needs and also to furnish electric power and lights to the town of Phenix. Extra trackage was laid to eliminate hauling in the quarry. Extra trackage was laid to eliminate hauling in the quarry area and a locomotive purchased for switching to and from the railroad. A new crane-way and mill were then added and new ledges opened. In a previous number of Stone these improvements were described and illustrated. The illustration accompanying this account show a general view of the Napoleon Gray Marble and Phenix Stone quarry with its five ledges, seven channelers, locomotive, steam shovel and other equipment. Electricity is used for power whenever possible and cable lines extend from the power house to all sections of the quarry. In addition to Napoleon Gray Marble the company quarries Phenix Stone, manufactures white lime and furnishes cut stone and marble from its two mills.”

    Quarry of the Phenix Marble Company at Phenix, Mo., where Napoleon Gray Marble and Phenix Stone are quarried on five ledges, seven channelers being employed.

  • Phenix, Missouri - the Phenix Marble Company (Advertisement) (from Stone Magazine, March 1925, Vol. XLVI, No. 3, pp. 143)

    BAR Building, West 43d and 44th Streets, New York City. Exterior - Napoleon Gray Marble used on 77 panels between floors. Interior Walls and toilets all built of Napoleon Gray Marble, Severance & Van Alen Architects.

    Phenix Marble Company

    609 Scarritt Building, Kansas City, Missouri

    Producers of Napoleon Gray Marble - Phenix Cut Stone

    A sound material of superior texture and color for exterior and interior use.

    Interior - Blocks, Sawn Stone and Floor Material Only

    Estimates Furnished - Correspondence respectfully solicited

  • Phenix, Missouri - the Phenix Marble Company Napoleon Gray Marble Quarry (Photograph) (from Stone Magazine, April 1925, Vol. XLVI, No. 4, pp. 293.

    Napoleon Gray Marble Quarry of The Phenix Marble Company at Phenix, Missouri, Showing This Beautiful Decorative Marble Being Quarried on Several Levels and Machines and Equipment Required in an Opening of This Extent.

  • Phenix, Missouri - the Phenix Marble Company (from Stone Magazine, January 1926, Vol. XLVII, No. 1, pp. 43.

    Handling of Waste Blocks Solved Through Use of Cranes and Derricks

    “During an active season of quarrying marble for the trade when the time element becomes a factor of ever increasing importance there is always the problem of reducing the accumulation of waste blocks and merchantable blocks on the ledges. For several years the Phenix Marble Company, Phenix, Mo., has been experimenting with various methods of solve their problem and during the past season hit upon the plan of feeding the blocks from the quarry ledges to a Gantry crane about 930 feet from the quarry. Both merchantable blocks and waste are now removed from the ledges by means of the derricks, loaded onto cars and hauled by the company’s locomotive to the Gantry crane. The system has proved satisfactory in every way by reducing operating expenses and keeping large areas of valuable quarry ground open for development. The system also adds to the cleanliness of the quarry and reduces to a minimum the accumulation of waste material about the derricks. The accompanying illustrations show a general quarry scene and absence of waste piles about the derricks, the few blocks in sight awaiting only for the cars to remove them to the block pile under the Gantry crane, which is moved along on a track as the pile grows. From this quarry all of the Napoleon Gray Marble used throughout the country is taken. The company also quarries Phenix stone.”

    Section of Napoleon Gray Marble Quarry of the Phenix Marble Company Showing How Accumulation of Waste Has been Reduced to a Minimum Through the use of Derricks cars and crane block pile.

    New Gantry Crane Installed by the Phenix Marble Company at its Napoleon Gray Marble Quarry to Reduce the Accumulation of Merchantable and Waste Blocks around Derricks on the Ledges.

  • Phenix, Missouri - the Phenix Marble Company (from Stone Magazine, August 1926, Vol. XLVII, No. 8, pp. 497)

    Missouri Marble Company Completes Construction Programme Started Two Years Ago

    “The construction programme started two years ago by the Phenix Marble Company at its quarries at Phenix, Missouri, has been completed, according to announcement from the offices of the company, Suite 609 Scarritt Building, Kansas City, Mo. The programme included as major items the installation of a block storage yard with a Gantry Crane and the installation of additional channeling machines and derricks, the extension of trackage facilities; and the last item, just completed, the installation of a large compressor plant for all drill and quarry uses, power drill sharpeners, oil furnaces and tank storage for these furnaces. A large, well-lighted blacksmith shop houses all of the installations contained in this last item of the programme. All of the engineering and designing features of the Programme were handled by the staff of the company and the construction work executed by its own force of men. The output of Napoleon Gray Marble and Phenix Sawn Stone has been increased materially to meet the demand for this popular marble.”

• Phenix, Greene County, Missouri - the Phenix Marble Company - Kiel Hall (from Stone Magazine, September 1926, Vol. XLVII, No. 9, pp. 548)

  Kiel Hall at Phenix Quarry

  “Down in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri at Phenix, far off the beaten paths of travel and until the advent of the radio and the motor car a rather dismal place that gave the comic strip artists ample opportunity to create ‘Hill-Billy’ folk characters for the colored supplements is fast becoming a community of importance, like a great many other towns that have emerged from the hamlet stage to places on the motorists maps worth of a visit, and all because of their marble deposits, Phenix, while not as well known to the marble trade as its principal product, Napoleon Gray marble, or its chief sales agents, the Tompkins-Kiel Marble Company, will soon boast of a community hall, a sort of Marble Workers’ Recreation Headquarters to be known as ‘Kiel Hall’ named for August Kiel, head of the Tompkins-Kiel Marble Company.

  “The idea of establishing ‘Kiel Hall’ affords Stone Magazine an opportunity to write a paragraph of what might well be described as a bit of praise so often, too often, withheld for an obituary. During July, August Kiel, Mrs. Kiel and Mastin Simpson, President of the Phenix Marble Company, visited Phenix to inspect the new mill, the air compressor and blacksmith shops, the new storage yards and other recent quarry improvements. In the evening the weekly band concert was held, a summer-time feature at Phenix for the entertainment of the employees, and the question of the social life of the town was discussed. Mr. Kiel visualized the quarry and mill employees in a community hall equipped with radio and motion picture machines, a stage for theatricals, and a good floor for dancing. Turning to Mr. Simpson he said: ‘Mastin, I will go you half on a good hall for these people and just to satisfy myself that I am one of them I make the provision that it be called ‘Kiel Hall.’ Mr. Simpson immediately mounted the platform of the band stand and announced the birth of ‘Kiel Hall.’ Calls for Mr. Kiel and a speech brought forth one of the shortest addresses ever heard in the Ozarks where Senator Jim Reed has been known to talk for hours without tiring himself or the audience. He said: ‘I am glad to meet you all; I hope you like the hall.’

  “Plans for ‘Kiel Hall’ have gone forward apace and the original investment of $6,000 of which Mr. Kiel subscribed one half, has grown to $10,000, the fifty-fifty division being maintained. The building will contain a hall and stage with a seating capacity of 700. The hall ceiling will be amply high to permit basket-ball games and other indoor sports. There will be a reading room with an open fireplace and an adequate library and periodical section. Another room, 20 x 30 feet will house the radio. A motion picture machine has been purchased and will be installed in the main hall.

  “In commenting on the building of ‘Kiel Hall’ at Phenix Mr. Kiel said: ‘If the other quarries had given us the service, production, etc., that the Phenix Marble Company has given us, I would be willing to build a ‘Kiel Hall’ in every quarry we represent.”

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