October 24 2018
This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.
Today’s
story is about the early days of the limestone industry in our community and
the information comes from an article written by Gaylynn Childs, retired
Executive Director of the Geary County Historical Society.
“One of
Junction City’s selling points in the beginning years was the existence of an
abundance of quality limestone for building purposes. The stone could be found in the outcroppings,
sometimes called rim-rock. The best
stone for sawing purposes was found beneath the surface of the soil down to a
depth of 12 to 15 feet.
The stone
was workable when it was first taken from the ground then hardened with
exposure to the air and elements. Major
O.J. Hopkins, who had earlier served at Fort Riley, settled in Junction City
after the Civil War and in 1866, initiated the commercial process of sawing the
limestone. It is possible that he got the
idea from Daniel Mitchell, who was an early settler and experimented with the
use of a hand saw to saw this stone while constructing his house. Hopkins apparently witnessed this experiment
and later initiated correspondence with the operators of eastern quarries to
learn more about quarrying methods.
He got Junction City founder, James McClure and
others interested in forming a company to undertake the sawing of local
limestone. This venture became one of
the largest industries in the early history of Junction City, employing 60 men
and turning out about $1,500 worth of stone per month. The company used the McFarland quarry, which
was probably the earliest quarry in the area.
In 1867,
primarily through the efforts of George W. Martin, editor of the “Junction City
Union” newspaper, the Junction City Stone Sawing Company secured a contract to
furnish all the stone needed in the construction of the east wing of the State
Capitol building in Topeka.
And… that is
today’s story on “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical
Society.
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