Marble Cliff Quarry Co.

The Marble Cliff Quarry Co., is located in the community of San Margherita and operated the largest limestone quarry in the United States from its founding in 1913[1] until its sale in 1985.

Operational section of Marblecliff Quarry in 2021

History

In the early 1840s, quarry activities began in the area to mine a narrow belt of Columbus and Delaware limestone[2] which stretched all the way from the Scioto River to the Olentangy River adjacent to Marble Cliff, Ohio. The Columbus formation stone was roughly 100 feet thick with the Delaware limestone deposit above at 16 to 35 feet thick. Limestone was mined through the simple process of drilling and blasting and resulted in either blocks or crushed stone of various sizes. The products were then sent to the nearby limestone markets where they were sold and used in construction or as flux to purify iron ore.[2] These activities became more extensive in 1892 with the arrival of Sylvio A. Casparis and the Casparis Stone Co.[3]

In 1913, Marble Cliff Quarries Co. was founded and shortly consolidated quarrying activities with the merger of Casparis Stone, Scioto Stone, Kiefer Stone, and Woodruff and Pausch Stone. John W. Kaufman was named president of the company and H.J. Kaufman vice president.[2] The company grew through the expansion of stone grades from one to six and market-specific divisions that cater their products to specific industries, and at one point employed as many as 500 men.[4][3] By 1928, Marble Cliff Quarry was producing 3 million tons of stone per year, and purchased land in Muskingum County to expand their operations in road material.[5]

Development

In 1985, the Kaufmans sold the 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) quarry to investors who filled in and developed the quarry for residential use, including Marble Cliff Commons[6][2][3] apartments and Marble Cliff Crossing, a 100 single-family and 60 double-family subdivision built between 1998 and 2003.[7] The northern section of the original quarry remained in operation by American Aggregates Co.[8][9]

In 2017, Wagenbrenner Development purchased a 560-acre (230 ha) section of the former quarry, with the intention of remediating the site's brownfields to create a mixed-use development and the region's 20th Metro Park.[10][11][12] On November 30, 2021, the first phase of the 225-acre Quarry Trails Metro Park opened to the public.[13]

References
  1. "Marble Cliff Quarry" (PDF). Northwest History Express. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  2. Carlson, Wayne. "Grandview Heights Moment in Time". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  3. Smitzer, John (June 7, 1992). "Book Recounts Italian Immigrants' Lives". The Columbus Dispatch.
  4. "Lancaster Eagle-Gazette". Newspapers.com. Oct 16, 1943. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  5. "The Times Recorder". Newspapers.com. Feb 8, 1928. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  6. "Marble Cliff Commons | Apartments In Columbus, OH". Marble Cliff Commons. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  7. Futty, John (May 11, 2003). "Change Comes to Trabue Road, but Old-World Charm remains in Vineyards of the Hamlet settled by Italian Immigrants". The Columbus Dispatch.
  8. "Marble Cliff Quarry". Columbus Railroads. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  9. "American Aggregates Corp. , MANUFACTURERS: DISTRIBUTOR , (614) 445-1125 - Columbus,Ohio - USA Business Directory". www.usbizs.com. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  10. "New Metro Park and mixed-use development coming to stunning quarry site in west Columbus". Columbus Business First. Jun 19, 2017. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  11. "New Metro Park, Mixed-use Development Planned for Huge Tract of Former Quarry Land". Columbus Underground. June 19, 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  12. "Project QT Will Give Columbus Another Metro Park And It Looks SO COOL!". Columbus Navigator. June 19, 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  13. Ellis, Andrea Reeves, Mark Ferenchik and Nate. "Quarry Trails Metro Park is now open: 5 things to know about the new park". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2021-12-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)


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