CHAPTER IV 



MONROE COUNTY 



The Stinesville-Ellettsville District. The district around 

 Stinesville can probably boast of the fact that the first stone 

 quarried in the Oolitic limestone belt was taken out at this point. 

 The first operator was a man by the name of Gilbert, who quarried 

 some stone as early as 1827 on the east side of the creek about 

 three-fourths of a mile south of Stinesville. Most of the stone 

 taken out at an early date was used for bridge abutments and for 

 foundations. The industry was on a very small scale until the 

 opening, in 1854, of the railroad, which is at present known as the 

 Monon. 



There are at present (1914) in operation at Stinesville 1 quarry 

 and 3 mills. The quarry and 2 mills are the property of the Hoadley 

 Stone Company, of Stinesville. The quarry is located about 

 half a mile southwest of town on the west side of the valley. 

 The quarry is very level topped, after the overlying Mitchell 

 limestone has been removed. The stripping consists of about 

 8 feet of a sandy clay and about 8 feet of disintegrated Mitchell 

 limestone. The upper floor of the Oolitic is also mostly waste. 

 The stone is all buff, or, at least, all of it that is at present worked. 

 The blue stone comes in below the level of the nearby stream 

 bottom. The stone is very free from water and the quarry 

 can be kept in operation most of the winter. The grain of the 

 stone is rather coarse, but it is very even and gives a fine ap- 

 pearance to the finished stone. One peculiarity of the stone 

 of this quarry is the fact that it gets harder and coarser in grain 

 the deeper the quarry is worked. About 37 feet of good stone 

 is obtainable, of which the upper 8 feet is a very white, chalky 

 grade of stone. 



The 2 mills of the Hoadley Stone Company stand on opposite 

 sides of the Monon railroad about 200 yards south of the Stines 

 ville station. 



. The mill of the United Indiana Quarrj^ Company is located 

 about one-fourth of a mile south of the Hoadley quarry. It was 

 not in operation at the time of my last visit in July, 1914, and 

 in fact had not been since the latter part of December, 1913. 

 There have been no quarry operations in connection with this 

 property for a long time, but the company has purchased 30 



(25) 



