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Indiana University Studies 



very good. Practically all the quarrying done in the valley is 

 along the boundary of the Mitchell and Bedford limestones. At 

 these points the thin feather edge of the Mitchell limestone 

 has tended to protect the softer underlying Oolitic limestone. 



There is a fair thickness of stone in all the small ridges of the 

 valley and in some of the quarries as much as 40 feet of workable 

 stone is obtainable. Seams in the rock are few, and where there 

 is a sufficient covering of the Mitchell stone there has been but 

 little weathering along these seams. The fossils in the rock 

 are practically pJl small and in no way affect the value of the 

 stone. Most of the stone quarried from the deeper beds in the 

 valley is of the variety known to the stone trade as ''blue" stone. 

 Much mixed stone is also turned out from the upper beds where 

 the line of separation of the ''buff" and "blue" stone is very 

 irregular. There is a marked tendency of the stone to vary 

 in both grain and color in the different quarries, and the amount 

 of waste in the different quarries is very unequal. 



There are four companies operating in the valley at the 

 present time, as follows: Crescent Stone Company, operating 

 1 quarry; Consolidated Stone Company, operating 2 mills and 1 

 quarry; Star Stone Company, operating 1 mill and 1 quarry; 

 Hunter Brothers Stone Company, operating 1 mill and 1 quarry. 



The Crescent Stone Company's quarry is located in the 

 southeastern corner of the valley, and the workings have been 

 against the eastern wall of the valley where a large amount of 

 stone has been removed. The quarry was opened in 1893 by 

 the Perry Mathews and Perring Company. At present the work 

 of opening floors on the west side of the ridge which crosses their 

 property is in progress. The new floors are southwest of the old 

 workings and adjoin the property of the Consolidated Stone 

 Company. The Crescent is one of the best equipped quarries 

 in the district in power plant and general equipment. There 

 is a substantial wooden power-house and the machinery contained 

 is up-to-date and in good working order. The stone turned out 

 is a good grade of quarry run, most of it buff or mixed in color. 

 There are several worked-out floors and these are used for waste 

 disposal. The stripping consists of about 5 feet of a loose, brown, 

 sandy clay and about 8 feet of much disintegrated Mitchell and 

 Oolitic stone. Under this about 40 feet of good stone is taken out 

 in 5 channel cuts. About 55 per cent of the solid cut can be 

 used as building stone and the rest is discarded as waste. There 



