THE OLEMA LIME KILNS by Gordon Chappell, Regional Historian 



On July 13, 1850, Rafael Garcia leased to James A. Shorb and William F. Mercer 

 "all that tract or parcel of land known as the ranch of the first party of the first part and 

 called or named Tunta el Estero de Male,' for all limeing & timber & wooded purposes." 

 The lessees, respectively a county judge and a clerk in the judge's court, were to have the 

 "privilege of building lime kilns, quaring [quarrying] & using lime stone, wood for burning 

 the kils and the entire timber privilege of the Rancho." In exchange, Shorb and Mercer 

 were to give a third of all the lime burned to Garcia. Furthermore, they were to pay four 

 dollars each for trees cut for timber or fuel, and they were prohibited from cutting any 

 trees over three feet in diameter at the base-that is, the trees most useful for lumber. 

 Garcia, in turn, was to furnish oxen, carts and Indian labor, to haul all the lime to the 

 embarcadero at Bolinas Lagoon, and to provide assistance in loading lime onto the ships 

 there. 



Undoubtedly the developers of this short-lived lime producing industry hoped to 

 find a large and ready market in a San Francisco made a boom-town by the Gold Rush 

 which had commenced only a year before and which was destined to continue for several 

 years. Employing no doubt Indian labor, Shorb and Mercer built three lime kilns aling 

 Olema Creek. The first of these barrel-shaped kilns was built of locally quarried stone laid 

 up in clay mortar. Very likely, lime burned in this kiln was used in constructing the other 

 two immediately adjacent to the north, and a platform on the north end for storage of lime. 

 The fine grained dark-gray limestone was quarried from a Franciscan formation on the 

 hillside above the kilns, using a stripping technique which took advantage of natural 

 fractures, rather than explosives. 

 Archeological investigation suggests 

 that no single kiln was fired more than 

 four times, and that there were no more 

 than a total of twelve firings for all of the 

 kilns. The quantity of limestone 

 excavated from the quarry site supports 

 this conclusion of very limited use. A 

 contract dated March 15, 1852 indicates 

 that the kilns were in use, being tended 

 by a "Spaniard" (meaning, no doubt, a 

 Californian of Mexican background). A 

 deed dated September 25, 1856, suggests 

 that kilns were idle by that date if not 

 abandoned. Maps dated 1852 show a 

 house located about fifty yards 

 downstream and on the opposite (west) 

 side of the creek; it may have been 

 associated with the operation of the 

 kilns, but today only traces of the 

 structure remain, as it reportedly 

 burned at an undetermined date long 

 ago. 



Presumably there were better 

 and cheaper sources of lime for use in 

 San Francisco with which the Olema 

 industry could not compete, resulting in 

 its failure between 1853 and 1856, no 

 doubt with financial loss to its builders. 



Written as part of the nomination to the 

 National Register of Historic Places; the 

 Olema Lime Kilns were listed on the 

 National Register on October 8, 1976. 



The Olema Lime Kilns have been a curiosity in Marin 

 County for more than a century. Photo taken circa 1935. 

 Point Reyes National Seashore Collection. 



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